Riker Maneuver
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
The Riker Maneuver was the name informally given by Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge to an on-the-spot tactical move instigated by Commander William Riker in the Battle of the Briar Patch in 2375. Because of the extreme risk associated with this tactic, La Forge stated that it would be taught at Starfleet Academy either as the Riker Maneuver or as something that future officers should not do.
While attempting to escape from two Son'a battle cruisers in the Briar Patch, Riker, piloting the ship manually from the bridge with a joystick, used the Bussard collectors of the USS Enterprise-E to collect unstable metreon gas, using the ship's ram scoop, from the Patch before venting the collectors, leaving a cloud of the gas in the ship's wake. When the pursuing vessels opened fire on the Enterprise the gas reacted explosively with the weapons fire, resulting in the destruction of one of the ships and severe damage to the other.
At the start of the "maneuver" La Forge states he "wouldn't be surprised if history remembers this as the Riker Maneuver". (Star Trek: Insurrection)
 The Enterprise collecting metreon gas |
 The Enterprise releases the metreon gas |
 The Son'a fire a torpedo |
 The Son'a are disabled |
[edit] Background
Geordi's comment may have been merely jovial. The maneuver is similar to a previously depicted incident in TNG: "Night Terrors" in which the Enterprise crew vented hydrogen into space to be ignited by another ship. However, in that case, it was not with the express purpose of damaging or destroying another ship in combat, and therefore would not have been classified as a "maneuver".
The name Riker Maneuver is probably an homage to the more famous Picard Maneuver. The movie script alludes to the joystick used by Riker as a computer gamester's dream.
Riker previously had two self-named maneuvers, "Riker Alpha" and "Riker Beta," shown in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II".
