The Picard Maneuver was a battle tactic invented by Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard. In 2355, Picard was in command of the USS Stargazer when it was attacked by an unknown alien vessel, later determined to be of Ferengi origin.
During the battle, the Stargazer, which was holding station several million kilometers away from its adversary, suddenly accelerated to warp 9 directly towards the Ferengi ship. Because the enemy was only equipped with light-speed sensors, it was unable to determine in time that the Stargazer had changed course. The Stargazer succeeded in launching a full assault on the Ferengi ship, completely destroying it.
In 2364, Lieutenant Commander Data calculated the only known defense to the Picard Maneuver, by scanning for gaseous displacement as an indicator for when the Stargazer had moved. This defense was used when Picard attempted to use the Picard Maneuver against the USS Enterprise while under the control of a thought maker deployed by DaiMon Bok.
The Picard Maneuver later became required reading at Starfleet Academy. (TNG: "The Battle")
- Behind the scenes, it became common practice to refer to Patrick Stewart's habit of tugging his uniform shirt down when standing up as the "Picard Maneuver". Some fans also consider Picard's hand gesture when ordering "engage" or the "close hailing frequences" cut off gesture to be Picard maneuvers as well.
| The Picard Maneuver | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| File:PicardManeuver1.jpg | File:PicardManeuver2.jpg | File:PicardManeuver3.jpg | File:PicardManeuverResolution.jpg |
| The Stargazer at rest. | The Stargazer accelerates to warp 9. | The Stargazer briefly appears to be in two places at once. | The Enterprise-D thwarts the Picard Maneuver. |
