Disruptor
The disruptor or phase disruptor is a type of direct-energy weapon in common use among many non-Federation races in the galaxy including the Breen, Cardassians, Dominion, Eminians, Ferengi, Gorn, Klingons, Lysians, Rigelians and Romulans. As a rule they are not used by Starfleet or Marine personnel. They are still employed by the Andorian Defense Force.
Typical disruptors are composed of a long-term capacitance power cell, a forced-energy particle generator, a triple-redundant waveguide and accelerator stage, and a beam emitter. These weapons create a particle beam, whose total energy cannot be contained but for a few milliseconds. The beam is unwound rapidly, and the instability releases the contained energy which will disrupt any matter the beam comes into contact with. Early disruptor technology was trial and error at best, with the weapon sometimes exploding unintentionally---making it as much a danger to the user as its intended target. Today's weapons are much safer and sturdier.
Disruptors are usually more powerful than and equally accurate with the phasers they are typically put against. But because of the process of beam generation/de-generation, they have a slower rate of fire and drain their power sources much quicker.
Because they are the chosen weapons of the Romulans, Klingons, and Ferengi, disruptors are the most common type of weaponry found in the galaxy. All three species have a long history of providing their weapons and technology to other races...usually for their own gains. In 2267, for example, the people of Eminiar VII were found to be using hand disruptors identical in design to Klingon military issue sidearms of the same period.
Lysian destroyers were armed with a disruptor weapon system that had a capacity of 2.1 megajoules.
The Cardassian outpost on Korma used "system five" disruptors for its planetary defense weapons. Although never designed to operate aboard a moving spacecraft, one would be modified to be used aboard the Cardassian military freighter Groumal in 2372.
In 2374, disruptor bursts from Jem'Hadar soldiers left anti-coagulants in the systems of those attacked by such a weapon, usually causing their victims to suffer and die from the loss of blood.
For ship-born disruptors, click HERE
