Time to beam through shields?

robert359

We can send energy weapons through shields, launch torpedoes through them, and we have seen enemy torpedoes go through them when they know the shield frequency.

So why can't our own transporter system talk to our shield system to beam through them?

You still would not be able to bean through other ships shields unless they sync transporters.

I know it probably came about as a story telling point, usually as a reason Kirk could not get back to the ship, but now there are plenty of reasons a person can't beam somewhere. Besides the transporter being the only system to break more then the holodeck, there are transport inhibitors, atmospheric conditions, minerals in the ground, and various radiation.

So, am I the only one to think it is time we can beam through our shields?

mirrorchaos

if i remember right the borg can beam through shielding of enemy ships without a second thought, like the dominion. it depends on the attackers technology involved and how good they are at it, but then again federation engineers learned to build ways around dominion and borg intrusions, so again it depends as much on the victims technology as well.

steamwright

Mirrorchaos is right, the Borg can beam through shielding. It is one of the areas in which they remain more advanced than we. So in the Trek world the potential exists, but advancements still need to be made.

Keep in mind that what you're pointing out, energy weapons & torpedoes, are destructive measures. It doesn't matter if matter (torpedoes) or energy weapons create chaos on energy (shields) as any chaos will benefit the destruction intended. Transporters are all about preservation and reconstruction. Energy on energy with no chaos or loss is more challenging.

So why not study the remains of Borg technology, or ask Seven for the info, to retro-engineer our own technology? One reasonable possibility is the ever changing field of shield technology. There are big strides, like the shielding Admiral Jayneway brought the Voyager crew, but little strides exist, too, and it is in those moments that possibly all current efforts at shield penetration are negated, which is what I think mirrorchaos was saying with the "victim's technology" comment he made.

mustrumridcully0

I think beaming through allied ships shield and the ships own shield is something that has occasionally happened on screen.

And in STO, we can apparently even beam warheads through shields. But only small ones, and not anywhere near the warp core, clearly.



I think beaming through anyone's shields is problematic because a believable scenario would always mean that you could beam explosive devices aboard another ship in critical locations - destroying a bridge or warp core. Combat would be about who can transport to the other ship first (quite possibly resulting in a lot of "draws"... e.g both ships exploding from the enemies attack).

starkaos

If I remember correctly, it had to deal with Shield Frequencies. If an enemy were to acquire their target's shield frequency, then their weapon fire could bypass shields. So it is possible to beam through shields as long as you know the destination ship's shield frequency.

robert359

I am talking about your own ships shields. I am asking why can't your transporter system work with your shield system?

I don't think it should be easy or possible to beam through an enemy's shields. It should be all to easy for an enemy to modulate shield frequency.

As for the Borg, if I was a Captain going to face them, my ship would be equipped with transport inhibitors incase I lost my shields.