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I just remembered there's a voyager episode (with a water planet i think), where Tom Paris fires a photon torpedo at some sort of facility that's polluting a planet, or something like that, and then Janeway shoots another torpedo to intercept it. After this sequence of events, Paris is busted down to ensign.

I THINK it shows the photon torpedoes exploding. If so, would this be a decent way to measure how powerful they are...cos i still can't get my head round the 60-odd megaton thing.

Someone's bound to have this episode on video somewhere.

The explosion not only didn't breach the hull of a nearby Flyer, it didn't effect the building near it.

So should we keep saying that they have a 60MT blast yield then?

Variable yields ?

64 MT is from the non-canon TM. So no.

*nitpick* the Delta Flyer shot a "borg photonic missile" not a photon torpedo*end nitpick*

if anything this should contribute to the accuracy arguemnt for photon torpedoes to be able to be used like a patriot missile....

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:64 MT is from the non-canon TM. So no.

I agree, Admiral. Excuse me: Grand Admiral

Rye, since the TM's aren't canon, the 64 megaton torpedo thing is usually whipped out just to be "generous" to Trekkers. Some think this is no big deal since Wars weapons are so incredibly powerful, and I see where they're coming from.

But personally, I'm more interested in the yields of photorps outside of any comparative context. I just think it's cool to know their general range of yields just for the sake thereof. It just happens to be useful in Vs. scenarios

IMO, they probably range from a few kilotons to maybe a couple of megatons. I myself favor the 300-600 kT range or thereabouts. But I can possibly see that, in some extreme cases, there are very high-yield, perhaps "fire and forget" (even more so than usual ) torpedoes of 2 megatons or thereabouts.

Examples of such huge warheads might include some of the weapons used in "TDIC" and definitely includes VGR's "Type X" torpedo in "Scorpion, pt. II."

Yield is pretty open to argument...another reason I think some of us bypass that facet of a debate altogether and just let the TM thing slide. It becomes an increasingly digressive issue that bogs lots of vs. debates down.

Variable yields ?

Sure there're variable yields in photon torpedoes... just pump more or less antimatter in 'em...

However, the problem is that Tom obviously expected his weapon to deal great damage to the facility... the explosion witnessed on screen wouldn't have even done THAT.