Defender
Typ lode:
Heavy Cruiser
Počet lodí:
6 have been retired from service.
Výška lode:
59,00 m
Šírka lode:
140,00 m
Dĺžka lode:
339,00 m
Hmotnosť lode:
1.200.000,00 ton
Počet palub:
8
Počet členov posádky:
215
Diplomatické vybavenie:
3
Cestovná rýchlosť:
Warp 6,00
Maximálna rýchlosť:
Warp 7,80
Kritická rýchlosť:
Warp 8,40
Heavy Cruiser
Počet lodí:
6 have been retired from service.
Výška lode:
59,00 m
Šírka lode:
140,00 m
Dĺžka lode:
339,00 m
Hmotnosť lode:
1.200.000,00 ton
Počet palub:
8
Počet členov posádky:
215
Diplomatické vybavenie:
3
Cestovná rýchlosť:
Warp 6,00
Maximálna rýchlosť:
Warp 7,80
Kritická rýchlosť:
Warp 8,40
Obranný systém:
Standard shield system, total capacity 499,500 TeraJoules Standard Duranium Double hull. Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Zbraňové systémy, phasery:
12 x Type VII phaser bank, total output 10,000 TeraWatts
Vývoj, vypustenie, používanie:
2280-2283
Životnosť:
95
Minimálny cyklus opráv:
1
Štandardný cyklus opráv:
1
Maximálny cyklus opráv:
15
Standard shield system, total capacity 499,500 TeraJoules Standard Duranium Double hull. Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Zbraňové systémy, phasery:
12 x Type VII phaser bank, total output 10,000 TeraWatts
Vývoj, vypustenie, používanie:
2280-2283
Životnosť:
95
Minimálny cyklus opráv:
1
Štandardný cyklus opráv:
1
Maximálny cyklus opráv:
15
The Defender class was one of several designs produced around the 2280s as a possible successor to the Constitution class heavy cruisers. Starfleet was driving strongly for much higher warp speeds for its ships during this period, most notably in the Excelsior project which was to incorporate transwarp drive in a move dubbed "the great experiment". However, Starfleet was aware that should the radically new technology of the Excelsiors prove unsuccessful, there would be a significant period whilst a new design was created and developed - a period during which the ageing Constitution class, now ten to fifteen years beyond their major refit, might prove unable to cope with their Klingon counterparts.
The Defender class was considered a fall back option. Starfleet wanted a ship which would be significantly more capable than the existing Constitutions, but would use existing technology to achieve this goal. Given the 'second fiddle' role of the ships to the Excelsior project, Starfleet also wanted the design produced on a resources shoestring.
The designers responded with a vessel which utilized a refit-Constitution class saucer section attached to a brand new engineering hull. Although the warp drive was not at all innovative in terms of the technology employed, the hull configuration was rather unusual in that four nacelles were to be employed in a much flatter, more subspace-streamlined configuration.
After a remarkably speedy design process, six of these ships were built between 2280 and 2283 to establish performance characteristics and prove the basic concept. All proved highly successful in service.
When the great experiment did indeed end in failure, Starfleet endured considerable public embarrassment. The fact that the unstable transwarp drive had only avoided a catastrophic nacelle implosion on its first flight because renegade Starfleet officers had sabotaged the system was an added humiliation. The Defender project team looked forwards to the cancellation of the Excelsior project and a big production run for their ship.
Starfleet's top brass had other ideas. Determined to make a success of their prize project any way that they could, they announced that the Excelsior would be fitted with a conventional warp drive2 and built in even greater numbers than had been previously envisaged. The decision was a reasonably sound one; the basic engineering of the Excelsior class was excellent and the ship included a whole new generation of sensors, computers and other systems besides the transwarp drive.
However, the move was death for the Defender project; starfleet cancelled all further production of the class. The six existing ships were initially to be cancelled, but they had already performed so well in service that this decision was reversed and all six entered normal service. Although their crews considered them excellent vessels they were never popular with the rest of the fleet, who tended to write them off as failed Excelsiors. Starfleet came close to scrapping the class on numerous occasions, but each time their mix of performance combined with cost effectiveness was a telling point in their favour and they survived review after review. They remained in service for an astonishing ninety five years, their crews dubbing them "the great unwanted fleet". Eventually they became part of the Sector 001 defence force; in 2367 one of this class took part in the battle of Wolf 3593, where in true Defender fashion it survived several hours in combat with the Borg cube before going down in flames with all weapons blazing.
In 2370 Starfleet was once again considering the scrapping of the remaining ships, when the USS Odyssey was destroyed by the Dominion. Suddenly the Federation was in a position of needing every single ship they could find, and so the Defenders received yet another reprieve. However, their time was now considered to be largely past. Starfleet generally kept them in their Earth defence role, where three were destroyed during the Breen attack on Earth. Once the war was over in 2375, the remaining two vessels were finally retired for good.
The Defender class was considered a fall back option. Starfleet wanted a ship which would be significantly more capable than the existing Constitutions, but would use existing technology to achieve this goal. Given the 'second fiddle' role of the ships to the Excelsior project, Starfleet also wanted the design produced on a resources shoestring.
The designers responded with a vessel which utilized a refit-Constitution class saucer section attached to a brand new engineering hull. Although the warp drive was not at all innovative in terms of the technology employed, the hull configuration was rather unusual in that four nacelles were to be employed in a much flatter, more subspace-streamlined configuration.
After a remarkably speedy design process, six of these ships were built between 2280 and 2283 to establish performance characteristics and prove the basic concept. All proved highly successful in service.
When the great experiment did indeed end in failure, Starfleet endured considerable public embarrassment. The fact that the unstable transwarp drive had only avoided a catastrophic nacelle implosion on its first flight because renegade Starfleet officers had sabotaged the system was an added humiliation. The Defender project team looked forwards to the cancellation of the Excelsior project and a big production run for their ship.
Starfleet's top brass had other ideas. Determined to make a success of their prize project any way that they could, they announced that the Excelsior would be fitted with a conventional warp drive2 and built in even greater numbers than had been previously envisaged. The decision was a reasonably sound one; the basic engineering of the Excelsior class was excellent and the ship included a whole new generation of sensors, computers and other systems besides the transwarp drive.
However, the move was death for the Defender project; starfleet cancelled all further production of the class. The six existing ships were initially to be cancelled, but they had already performed so well in service that this decision was reversed and all six entered normal service. Although their crews considered them excellent vessels they were never popular with the rest of the fleet, who tended to write them off as failed Excelsiors. Starfleet came close to scrapping the class on numerous occasions, but each time their mix of performance combined with cost effectiveness was a telling point in their favour and they survived review after review. They remained in service for an astonishing ninety five years, their crews dubbing them "the great unwanted fleet". Eventually they became part of the Sector 001 defence force; in 2367 one of this class took part in the battle of Wolf 3593, where in true Defender fashion it survived several hours in combat with the Borg cube before going down in flames with all weapons blazing.
In 2370 Starfleet was once again considering the scrapping of the remaining ships, when the USS Odyssey was destroyed by the Dominion. Suddenly the Federation was in a position of needing every single ship they could find, and so the Defenders received yet another reprieve. However, their time was now considered to be largely past. Starfleet generally kept them in their Earth defence role, where three were destroyed during the Breen attack on Earth. Once the war was over in 2375, the remaining two vessels were finally retired for good.