Photon torpedo

A Photon torpedo is a standard advanced energy powered missile system used aboard Federation starships from the mid 22nd Century to the Late 24th Century.

System Mechanics
The main components of a Photon Torpedo consist of a Photon/Anti-Deuterium Reactive warhead placed into a Terminium reinforced casing commonly known as a Photon Tube. The Matter/Anti-Matter charge before detonation is kept separated by a Internal Magno-Plasma force field. Upon detonation the field automatically deactivates flooding the reaction chamber which consists of 1000's of magnetic micro pockets of photons with Anti-Matter. These micro pockets help to control both range and Blast intensity.

Weapons History
The earliest ships using photon torpedoes were Klingon, in the mid-22nd century. By this point, Starfleet had only recently developed the photonic torpedo.

By the mid-23rd century, Federation vessels were also equipped with photon torpedoes.

They remained the standard compliment on all ships for over a century. A newer torpedo called the quantum torpedo was invented by the Federation around 2371, but only advanced starships utilized the weapon.