The Borg cube was a type of starship used by the Borg Collective in the 24th century. Along with the Borg sphere, cubes were among the primary types of vessel for its fleet. (TNG: "Q Who", "The Best of Both Worlds"; Star Trek: First Contact)
Described as mighty and omnipotent, Borg cubes were considered one of the most destructive weapons ever known. (PIC: "Maps and Legends")
Design and history[]
Borg cubes have been in existence prior to 2347/2348, where a cube was first observed by Federation scientists Magnus and Erin Hansen, and their daughter, Annika aboard the USS Raven on stardate 32623.5. (VOY: "Dark Frontier") Seventeen years later, the USS Enterprise-D came into contact with a single cube in System J-25 in 2365, marking the first official Federation contact with a Borg cube. (TNG: "Q Who")
Borg cube interior
Cubes were described as massive in size, measuring over three kilometers along an edge and possessing an internal volume of 28 cubic kilometers, and was constructed of tritanium, an alloy known for its extreme hardness. Its exterior design consisted of perpendicular and diagonal grids, struts, and weaponry, allowing a characteristic yellow-green light to emanate from within. (VOY: "Dark Frontier", "Endgame") Cubes were highly decentralized in structure with no specific bridge, living quarters or engineering sections. All vital systems were spread throughout the ship, which, along with the presence of a regenerative hull, made it highly resistant to damage and system failures. In 2366, Commander Elizabeth Shelby estimated that a cube could remain functional even if 78% of it was rendered inoperable due to the decentralized and redundant nature of its key systems. (TNG: "Q Who", "The Best of Both Worlds") The internal pressure aboard a Borg cube was two kilopascals above what would be normal on a Federation starship. The humidity was on average 92%, and the temperature was at 39.1°C. (Star Trek: First Contact) The atmosphere contained traces of tetryon particles. (VOY: "Infinite Regress") They were typically manned by "thousands of drones," and could vary in complement anywhere from 5,000 to 64,000 to 129,000 drones. (VOY: "Dark Frontier")
Fifteen cubes bear down on Voyager
Millions of cubes were estimated to exist in Borg space in the Delta Quadrant, with fifteen being the largest single grouping of cubes directly observed by Starfleet, by the crew of the USS Voyager in late 2373, with many more observed close to the Collective's Unicomplex. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Dragon's Teeth", "Dark Frontier", "Unimatrix Zero", "Unimatrix Zero, Part II") During the Borg-Species 8472 War, hundreds of cubes were damaged or destroyed as a result of the conflict, and following the fall of the Collective in 2378, many more cubes were left stranded and dormant throughout the galaxy. Despite these losses, a few were still known to be active through the 2380s. (PIC: "The Last Generation", PRO: "Let Sleeping Borg Lie", LD: "Twovix", "wej Duj")
Every Starfleet encounter with a single cube resulted in heavy casualties. At the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367, an armada of forty Starfleet ships were assembled to stop a cube; thirty-nine of those ships were lost in a matter of minutes. Dozens more were destroyed stopping another cube in the incursion of 2373. (TNG: "The Drumhead"; Star Trek: First Contact) Normally, a single Borg cube was capable of assimilating all elements of civilization from an entire planet. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"; VOY: "Unity", "Dark Frontier", "Child's Play")
Technical data[]
Interior components[]
Borg cubes are known to include many different components in order for it to function within the Collective.
Vinculum[]
Each cube in the Collective contains a Vinculum, a processing device at the heart of every Borg vessel which interconnected the minds of all the drones, purging individual thoughts and disseminating information relevant to the Collective. The vinculum was equipped with many safeguards to prevent its deactivation and was capable of adapting to attack. (VOY: "Infinite Regress")
Central plexus[]
The Central plexus was a device present on all Borg vessels that linked it to every other Borg ship. This is a highly guarded area on Borg vessels, and were protected with multi-regenerative security grids. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero", "Unimatrix Zero, Part II")
Central power matrix[]
The Central power matrix was a critical power component on Borg vessels. (VOY: "Prey")
Distribution nodes[]
A distribution node was a device that controlled the distribution of data to various areas of the ship. A power distribution node, colored green, controlled the distribution of energy, and resembled a small pyramid in shape. A variation of this device called a power waveguide conduit was of similar design, but appeared red in color. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")
Assimilation chambers[]
Borg cubes contained numerous assimilation chambers, where the assimilation of an individual or group of individuals into the Borg Collective was performed. (VOY: "Dark Frontier")
Maturation chambers[]
A cube contained numerous maturation chambers, a device used by the Borg Collective to accelerate the development of adolescent humanoids until they were ready to service the Collective as drones. (TNG: "Q Who"; VOY: "Collective"; VOY: "Unimatrix Zero")
Queencell[]
The queencell was a chamber present on Borg cubes, where the Queen was able to control the cube or the drones in the Collective. It contained a spatial trajector for escape or quick movement throughout the Collective. The Queencell could be hidden behind moving bulkheads. (PIC: "The Impossible Box", "Broken Pieces")
Hangar bays[]
Each cube contained numerous hangar bays, where smaller vessels would be towed into for assimilation. (VOY: "Collective")
Propulsion systems[]
Depiction of cube entering a transwarp conduit
Borg cubes were capable of both warp and transwarp velocities, thanks partly to the Borg Collective's network of transwarp corridors and hubs. When a Borg cube enters a transwarp conduit, it projects a structural integrity field ahead of itself to compensate for the extreme gravimetric shear. (VOY: "Inside Man") To compensate for the extreme temporal stress while traveling through these corridors, and remain in temporal sync, a chroniton field was also projected through specially designed conduits. (VOY: "Shattered") Borg cubes did not present with the twin warp nacelle configuration utilized by nearly all warp-capable species, and the technology by which a Borg cube achieves warp speed is unknown. A Borg cube's maximum warp factor appeared to be greater than that of a Galaxy-class starship, as the Enterprise-D, during its first encounter with a Borg cube, was not able to maintain its distance from one such vessel when it attempted to flee. (TNG: "Q Who")
Tactical systems and combat performance[]
Though Borg cubes possess a multitude of energy weapon emitters and projectile launchers, initial scans of a Borg cube performed by the Enterprise-D were unable to identify any weapons systems of any design known to the Federation. (TNG: "Q Who")
The primary tactic employed by Borg cubes when engaging another vessel was to seize it with a tractor beam that would also drain its shields. Once locked on, the tractor beam of a cube could drain the shields of a Galaxy-class starship within seconds and hold it immobile against the full force of its warp drive. (TNG: "Q Who") Once the target ship was defenseless, the cube could perform any action ranging from destruction to assimilation. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds"; DS9: "Emissary") The Borg could also use the tractor beam to destroy unshielded enemy vessels without the use of any additional weaponry. (Star Trek: First Contact) The standard deflector shields of Starfleet vessels could resist the tractor beam if the crew of the ship in question cycled the shields through different energy frequencies, but only for a short time. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")
Following the failure of enemy shields, the cube could engage a high-energy laser cutting beam to slice sections of the ship for assimilation. (TNG: "Q Who")
If assimilation was unwarranted, the cutting beam could also be used as a weapon to destroy resisting vessels. During the Battle of Wolf 359, the Excelsior-class USS Melbourne and the Miranda-class USS Saratoga were annihilated by cutting beams. The cutting beam could either slice into a ship with pinpoint precision, or it could be used to disintegrate large portions of an enemy vessel. Additionally, it could be fired with the tractor beam as a single attack, with the cutting beam manifesting inside the area of effect of the tractor beam. As demonstrated on the USS Melbourne at Wolf 359, combining the weapons in this fashion could destroy even a shielded enemy vessel within seconds. (DS9: "Emissary")
 Borg cube firing a missile  Effects of the missile |
Another tactic that could be used to disable enemy ships was to fire a type of missile weapon, the primary function of which appeared to be to drain a target's shields. These missiles appeared to be reserved for situations in which using the tractor beam was not feasible, such as an enemy vessel being out of range. Three such missiles were capable of disabling a Galaxy-class class vessel's shields. A hit from the weapon at an unshielded target could disable its warp drive without otherwise damaging it. (TNG: "Q Who")
The cubes could also use dispersal fields to disrupt the sensor and transporter function of enemy vessels. (VOY: "Collective") The Borg were capable of transporting through the active shields of both Galaxy and Intrepid-class starships. (TNG: "Q Who"; VOY: "Scorpion")
In addition, a Borg cube's weaponry also included other destructive beam and projectile weapons. During the 2366-2367 incursion, a cube obliterated three ships of the Mars Defense Perimeter with projectiles. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II") Similar projectiles were used to destroy a Steamrunner-class and a Saber-class starship during the Battle of Sector 001. (Star Trek: First Contact) The concentrated fire of three beam weapons was able to reduce USS Voyager's ablative generator-deployed armor hull integrity, a highly advanced future Starfleet defense technology, to 40%. (VOY: "Endgame")
Borg cubes did not appear to utilize traditional energy shields. Instead, they seemed to employ a subspace electromagnetic field that could be altered to adapt to enemy weaponry. This made destroying Borg vessels exceedingly difficult, as most weapons employed against them tended to either not work at all, or to become completely useless after a few shots. (TNG: "Q Who") This problem could be overcome to a degree by varying the frequency and modulation of the energy of the weapons in question, but even this tended to fail after a short time. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")
Borg could also adapt to explosives, such as photon torpedoes, with ease. The Borg could similarly adapt their weapons to the technology of their opponent's defenses. During their second encounter with a Borg cube, the crew of the Enterprise-D was able to prevent a Borg tractor beam from locking onto them by rapidly modulating the energy frequency of their shields. However, less than half a minute later, the Borg adapted the energy of the tractor beam to compensate for the rapidly shifting energy of the shields, and all further attempts to use this tactic failed within seconds. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")
Starfleet's two engagements with Borg cubes were extremely costly. In the first case, at the Battle of Wolf 359, the Borg had assimilated Jean-Luc Picard mere hours before and had gained access to his vast knowledge of Starfleet tactics and operations. As such, the battle saw 39 out of 40 ships destroyed with virtually negligible damage to a Borg vessel. The Borg vessel then continued nearly unimpeded to Earth and was stopped only by the ingenuity of the Enterprise-D's crew. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")
However, a similar engagement several years later saw a similarly large Federation fleet perform considerably better against another Borg cube. Though it suffered heavy casualties, the fleet managed to inflict heavy damage to the cube's outer hull and cause the vessel's power grid to begin fluctuating. The vessel was eventually destroyed primarily due the intervention of Captain Picard, whose residual telepathic link to the Collective furbished him with knowledge of a (presumably) battle-induced weak spot on the Borg vessel, which was subsequently targeted by the entire fleet. (Star Trek: First Contact)
Due to the adaptive qualities of the Borg electromagnetic field, the only quasi-reliable way of destroying a Borg cube was to use a weapon so powerful that just one or two shots would destroy it. Such weapons included the modified deflector weapon of a Galaxy-class starship, transphasic torpedoes, and the energy beam weapons of Species 8472. (VOY: "Endgame") However even weapons such as these could be adapted to. Another tactic that appeared to have at least some measure of success in combatting the Borg was to utilize unfamiliar evasive maneuvering sequences in order to keep the Borg tractor beams in particular from draining a ship's shields. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"; Star Trek: First Contact)
Support vehicles[]
Borg Sphere emerges from a cube
Ships up to the size of a Borg sphere were able to be docked inside a Borg cube for assimilation, supplies or escape purposes.
At least one Borg cube, and possibly others of its class, contained a Borg sphere. The only known recorded purpose of a sphere disengaged from a Borg cube was for escape. The sphere was the only documented support vehicle a Borg cube possessed. (Star Trek: First Contact)
Maintenance and repair[]
Drones repair damage to a Borg cube
The drones on board a Borg ship, through means not fully understood by the Federation, could essentially will it to repair itself. During the Enterprise-D's first encounter with a Borg cube, it inflicted damage to approximately 20% of the Borg vessel, only for the ship to repair virtually all of that damage within 20 minutes. This process could occur even while the ship was at warp speed or while it was engaged in combat. (TNG: "Q Who") In 2399, the cube known as the Artifact used small, automated robots to repair its hull and internal systems upon activation by Fenris Ranger Seven of Nine. (PIC: "Broken Pieces")
Known vessels[]
- Designated
- Unnamed, by Borg drone or queen
- Undesignated
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
- TNG:
- Star Trek: First Contact
- DS9: "Emissary"
- VOY:
- "Unity"
- "Scorpion"
- "Scorpion, Part II"
- "Prey"
- "Hope and Fear"
- "Drone" (on astrometrics screen)
- "Dark Frontier"
- "The Voyager Conspiracy" (on astrometrics screen)
- "Collective"
- "Child's Play" (on astrometrics screen)
- "Unimatrix Zero"
- "Unimatrix Zero, Part II"
- "Inside Man" (on astrometrics screen)
- "Q2"
- "Endgame"
- PIC:
- LD:
- Opening credits
- "I, Excretus" (holographic recreation)
- "wej Duj"
- PRO: "Let Sleeping Borg Lie"
Background information[]
Ronald D. Moore suggested that the vulnerable spots on the Borg cube in Star Trek: First Contact were waste extraction. (AOL chat, 1998)
Although no Borg cubes appear in ENT: "Regeneration", the cube design of Borg vessel was referred to in the final draft script of that episode, which commented that a corridor aboard the transport Arctic One was to be "almost indistinguishable from one on a Borg cube."
Studio models[]
- See: Borg cube model
Apocrypha[]
Borg cubes make appearances in the Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II games. In the second game, a "fusion cube" and "tactical fusion cube" are seen, and used by those playing as the Borg. The first consists of eight regular cubes connected to each other and is the size of a planetoid, such as Pluto. The second is composed of eight tactical cubes connected to each other and is the size of a planet, such as Mars. Both are designated battleships and hold the assimilator beam device and three "captured" special weapons taken from an enemy race.
In Star Trek: Starfleet Command III, Borg cubes are the Borg's battleship-type vessel and the most powerful playable Borg ship.
External link[]
- Borg cube at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works