Dominion ships all appear to use the phased polaron beam as their primary weaponry, and this gave them a heavy advantage in early conflicts with Federation forces. The destruction of the USS Odyssey prompted an intense flurry of activity on many fronts within Starfleet. Ship production was raised to a maximum and starship designs were altered to increase their combat effectiveness, while the academy training program was speeded up massively to provide crews for the new ships. By themselves, however, these projects would be of little use so long as the Dominion was able to defeat Federation ships so easily. Perhaps the most important project the Federation embarked on was that of shield enhancement. Between 2371 and 2373 the Federation put huge emphasis on the development of new shield technology. The capture of a Dominion vessel in 2373 gave the Federation an operational Dominion weapons system. This proved to be a crucial step towards the development of an effective polaron shield. The first real test of the system came at the end of 2373, when the Dominion launched an all out attack on Deep Space Nine. The stations shields proved to be highly effective, holding off the fleet and allowing the station to destroy over fifty enemy ships. Federation ships and stations continued to be resistant to Dominion weaponry for the remainder of the war