Cutting beam
A cutting beam was a beam of directed laser energy which was used to perform a cutting function.

Borg starships were known to have the ability to generate cutting beams of great , strong enough to slice sections of a starship, or even a planet, open with great precision. In conjunction with the Borg tractor beam, their cutting beams were used to "scoop" pieces of starships or cities for assimilation by Borg drones and collectives. (; )

The Borg used a cutting beam during their attack on the Tarkalean freighter but were attacked by . Later, they also tried to perform the cutting beam on the hull of Enterprise until the ship was able to destroy the assimilated and upgraded  transport Arctic One. ()

The 's saucer section was destroyed by a Borg cutting beam at the Battle of Wolf 359. The  was also hit by a cutting beam, suffering severe damage resulting in a warp core breach. During the battle, it was demonstrated that the cutting beam could also disintegrate large portions of enemy vessels rather than simply cutting into them, as occurred with the saucer section of the Melbourne. ()

See also 
 Core sample
 Cutter beam
 Laser
 Laser cannon
 Laser drill
 Laser weapon

External link

de:Destruktionsstrahl
de:Schneidestrahl
Borg technology
Tools