Isomagnetic Disintegrator
(c. 2370's)

Presumably it was carried on the back of one of those llamas until needed, but you have to wonder. . . Mentioned in the original synopsis leaked in March 1998, this was also referred to by name in a scene on the Captain's Yacht, which leaves one wondering what 'Tetryon Pulse Launchers' are.

I've been getting mail on just this subject, and the correspondents raise some good points. This could in reality be the Tetryon Pulse Launcher, in which case the Isomagnetic Disintegrator remains unidentified; either it wasn't seen, or it's the correct term for what we've been calling the First Contact Type-III Phaser Rifles. If you have anything to add, please contact me.

Michael Tom had this to say: "Three things that bugged me about this: one, if it's military issue, why make it chrome? It's like a mirror signal attracting the attention of any troops within a five mile radius. Two, are all Isomagnetic Disintegrators shaped like that or are they adjustable? Or are there XS, S, M, L, XL. Or are they tailor made to fit Worf's shoulder? They're a tip of the hat to Gundam's Hyper-bazooka but then that series dealt with robots with fixed lengths to arms, shoulders, heights, et al. . . Three, it's obviously the 24th century's version of a FIM-92A Stinger or a SA-7 Grail. So Picard knew they would receive a Son'a aerial assault against the slow moving Baku civilians yet nothing they brought maintains tactical parity."

Terry, who provided the newest caps below (including the ones used to create the firing sequence animation) has this to say on the name of the weapon: "If you want my vote, I'd say the Tetryon Pulse Launcher was the Worfzooka, while the Isomagnetic Disintegrators were the rifles. Being in my 40s, I remember old sci-fi TV "Disintegrator" weapons always inferring a beam or ray that disintegrated its target. The rifles fired beams as well as short beam pulses. On the other hand, the Worfzooka only 'launched a pulse.' In the yacht scene, 'ten' Isomagnetic Disintegrators and 'eight' Tetryon Pulse Launchers were taken onto the yacht, along with some explosives. No mention was made of any other weapons. The rifles were the most used weapons, but were not mentioned? Let's face it, the term "Launcher" seems to fit the Worfzooka pretty good, but doesn't fit the rifle at all. And, by more traditional use of the term "disintegrator", the reverse is true. I think the Star Trek Encyclopedia guys got it wrong. They assumed the rifle was a phaser based on Worf's barked order "Phasers Ready" in First Contact. When this weapon showed up, they seemed to have a choice between two terms, and picked the wrong one." Terry raises several questions in my own mind as well - regardless of whichever weapon there were ten or eight of, that's still a hell of a lot of weaponry which Picard was planning to take along even before four more of the Command staff joined him; where was it all?! Stashed on the Captain's Yacht? How was he able to hide the ship anyway, and know he could count on it staying hidden, and therefore not losing his extra arsenal?

"It's way bigger than a phaser, and does much less. The damn thing is the crowning achievement of dumb Starfleet engineering" - David Templar.

It would appear that the Worfzooka lives on, at least in redressed form - it is identical to certain parts of the Argo's Type-IV phaser cannon in Star Trek: Nemesis.