Ketracel White - Weapons and Equipment

Weapons and Equipment

Jem'Hadar use phased polaron weaponry, both for handheld and ship-mounted weaponry. Apart from their sheer destructive force, Jem'Hadar weapon beams emit a pulse that prevents coagulation in impacted biological tissue; even a glancing wound will cause unstoppable bleeding and death if untreated. In most other regards, Jem'Hadar small arms appear comparable to those used by Starfleet, Klingons and Cardassians. In addition, ship-mounted phased polaron beams were able to penetrate the shields of Federation, Cardassian, and Romulan ships. By a stroke of luck, in 2373 Starfleet was able to capture an intact Jem'Hadar fighter and reverse engineer the weapons, developing an effective defense. This helped prevent the Dominion from achieving victory early in the Dominion War.

The Jem'Hadar also use edged weapons, including a small, curved blade designed to be held in one hand (and often used, rather oddly, as a bayonet on their energy carbines), and a larger sword-like weapon usually held with two hands. In early encounters, Jem'Hadar can walk through Starfleet forcefields. According to startrek.com, this ability is derived from energy-absorbing pads built into their uniforms. However, the same source also indicates their shrouding ability to be derived from technology, despite the fact that the episode "Rocks and Shoals" explicitly established the ability to be biological.