- For other uses, see Broadside.
Icon representing the Kerala-class firing broadside.
The Kerala firing the broadside combat module.
The broadside beam support was a 23rd century Federation weapons technology, a starship trait inherent to the tier 6-rated Kerala-class temporal battlecruiser by the year 2411. (STO website: Unveiled: The 15th Anniversary Starship Bundle)
History and specifics[]
Shocked by the V'ger incident in the year 2373[1], Starfleet's Advanced Starship Design Bureau and the Department of Experimental Concepts and Applications overhauled Starfleet under the Total Modification Programme in less than ten years in the 2270s decade. This included reinterpreting classic spaceframes with upgraded materials, computers and weapons. The Kerala-class was one of these TMP-era starships and became Starfleet's "broadside battlecruiser". Starfleet fitted the USS Kerala with the broadside combat module and it exhibited the broadside beam support trait. This trait led to the firing of an additional beam array when the ship activated a fire at will or beam overload firing mode. This additional phaser hit a random target in a 90-degree arc within 5 kilometers from the ship's broadside. (STO website: Unveiled: The 15th Anniversary Starship Bundle)
In the 25th century, starship traits were a key factor in increasing combat effectiveness aboard starships of the Khitomer Alliance members' military forces and could act as a special weapon. The beams fired from this device were equivalent to a pulse phaser beam array. (STO - Unveiled missions: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock", "The Hunt is On", "Explore the Flotilla", "Ceremony")