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Evasive maneuvers, evasive action, or evasive pattern – also occasionally known as an evasive course, defensive pattern, escape pattern, evasion maneuvers, or evasion tactics – were a sequence of defensive movements employed by starship commanders to evade enemy weapons fire, or capture. These movements were specified by predefined or on the spot course changes. Although each race used different terminology for their evasive maneuvers, the tactics remained the same.

In 2254, Una asked Captain Christopher Pike if they should make evasive maneuvers when something came closer to the USS Enterprise on a collision course with the speed of light. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I")

Commander Spock used a spiral evasive course to break free from the constraint of the globular force field surrounding the USS Enterprise. (TAS: "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth")

When the USS Enterprise-D was attacked by a Cardassian starship, Captain Jean-Luc Picard ordered a "delta-sequence" evasive maneuver. (TNG: "The Wounded")

An example of this was the Starfleet maneuver "pattern delta" which was to simply a maneuver of rocking the ship hard from port to starboard. Evasive "pattern delta 5" was used to keep attacking ships off balance. (DS9: "Shattered Mirror", "The Search, Part I")

In contrast to evasive patterns, offensive movements such as attack patterns or tactical patterns were instances in which a starship commander intended to engage the enemy in a confrontation, rather than evade. These patterns were known as standard maneuvers.

In addition, there were other types of maneuvers that were named for the person who executed them the first time, such as "The Picard Maneuver", which was named for Jean-Luc Picard. (TNG: "The Battle")

In 2369, while confronted with a Miradorn Theta-class raider in the Chamra Vortex, Odo ordered evasive maneuvers for his runabout USS Ganges. (DS9: "Vortex")

The Red Squad was killed by a Jem'Hadar battleship before they could implement evasive maneuvers aboard the USS Valiant. (DS9: "Valiant")

Evasive maneuver patterns[]

Evasive maneuver sequences[]

Evasive maneuver sequences were simply a series or array of maneuvers which fit a particular circumstance, but then were left to the helmsman to execute the individual maneuvers themselves with discretion.

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