(covers information from Vanguard universe)
this article was thought of and created by Maximus1925
| Defiant-class | |
|---|---|
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| Side view | |
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Class: |
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Type: |
Tactical Frigate |
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Affiliation: |
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Status: |
Active |
| Career | |
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Yard: |
Antares Fleet Yards (development) |
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Launched: |
2369 (standard) |
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Commissioned: |
2370 (standard) |
| Dimensions | |
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Length: |
170.68 meters |
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Beam: |
134.11 meters |
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Draft: |
30 meters |
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Mass: |
355,000 metric tons |
| Specifications | |
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Decks: |
4 |
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Complement: |
40 total: |
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Speed: |
Via enhanced warp drive: |
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Armament: |
(Vanguard) |
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Defenses: |
(Vanguard) |
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Shuttlecraft: |
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| Top view | |
- For additional meanings of "Defiant class", please see Defiant class (disambiguation).
Overpowered, densely shielded, excessively armed, carrying more weaponry than three standard Galaxy-class starships, The Defiant-class was a type of Federation starship in use in the 24th century, the first Starfleet vessel created purely for warfare.
The Defiant class Tactical Frigate.
History[]
The Defiant-class was one of many Starfleet classes developed in response to the Borg threat following Starfleet's tragic losses in the Battle of Wolf 359. The starship was developed at the Antares Fleet Yards and was the first vessel Starfleet ever developed purely as a warship. However, the expected Borg invasion never materialised and the prototype USS Defiant (NX-74205) (Vanguard) spent much of its time in space dock due to design flaws. Rising hostilities with the Dominion threw the USS Defiant into active service. It was assigned to Deep Space 9 in 2371. Numerous adjustments and upgrades were made to the starship, including being fitted with a Romulan Cloaking device, to defend the station from Dominion attack and conduct undercover operations in the Gamma Quadrant.
The success of the USS Defiant gave new life to the class. Additional vessels were ordered, implementing the changes made to the class's namesake. As other Defiant-class starships left the shipyards they were placed in service defending Federation space and in combat in the Dominion War.
Special features[]
The Defiant-class was originally designed as a more combat capable starship than the average Starfleet vessel. It was a small, highly-powered, heavily armored limited-role starship. It was specifically built to fight the Borg, but was later put to excellent use against the Dominion. The vessel featured limited equipment for scientific research and was not designed to accommodate families. The ship’s conn systems had been designed for maximum speed and efficiency of commands input by the operator, allowing it to be handled almost like a fighter when under the hands of a skilled pilot.
A view of the Defiant class
Another view of the Defiant class
Master Systems Display of the Defiant class
Onboard tactical systems[]
This class of ship was considered one of the most powerful in the Alpha Quadrant based on mass-to-firepower ratio.
Offensive capabilities[]
Its four Type-XII forward pulse phaser cannon assemblies had a much higher combat yield compared to standard phasers. The four Type-XIII standard phaser beam emitters aboard these vessels serve as secondary supplement to the primary phaser cannon assemblies. These arrays allow the ship to engage multiple targets simultaneously, protect against enemies to the rear, and to allow it to perform strafing runs, all which of which could not be accomplished by the forward-facing phaser cannons. These vessels had a total of three variable-use torpedo launchers. These torpedo launchers allowed the ship to fire transphasic torpedoes, quantum torpedoes and high-yield photon torpedoes.
Defensive capabilities[]
The shield systems of the Defiant-class Tactical Frigates were among the most powerful found on any Starfleet ship. It was outfitted with regenerative, multiphasic, and metaphasic shield systems, and secondary shields. The design allows the ship to have regenerative features and to increase effectiveness against both high energy tractor beams and phased anti-muon (polaron) particles, measures clearly aimed at the Borg and Dominion respectively.
Under normal operation, the shield modulation frequencies were controlled by the ship's computer system, which continually evaluates incoming weapons fire and automatically re-modulates the shields to provide the most effective possible defense. It was thought that this system could also prevent beam-through by Borg transporter technology.
The Defiant-class boasts a hull that was made of overlapping and regenerative ablative hull armor that allows it to take many direct hits from enemy fire even with minimal shields. In addition, by 2380, the class had been equipped with two separate armor generators that could deploy a thick layer made of ablative armor plating along the contours of the entire ship when activated. This could be done through the numerous armor plating emitters that were installed at different points on the ship's hulls. This coating covers the ship's phaser mounts, but torpedo launchers were not affected by it.
By 2385 the class also featured microdiffracted carbon hull coating to absorb all visible radiation that fell upon it, making it as black as the space it moved through
This triple redundancy feature of shields and armor on the Defiant-class allows it to effectively counter Borg and Dominion firepower. However, due to the huge energy needed to deploy both the shields and the generated armor coating at the same time, the Defiant could only use these simultaneously for a maximum of one hour. As a result, the shields and the generated armor coating were used alternately when the ship wasin battle.
Command and senior staff[]
Defiant-class Tactical Frigates that were attached to the task forces of the Vanguard Fleet and the starbases and stations of Vanguard Command had Commanding Officers who hold the rank of Commander, while First Officers hold the rank of Lieutenant Commander. The exceptions were the "primary Defiant-class" companion ships of the task force flagships attached to Vanguard Command and the Vanguard Fleet, which had commanding officers who hold the rank of Captain.
Propulsion systems[]
The propulsion system onboard ships of this class were state-of-the-art. The class boasts of the best navigational sensors, and among the highest rated top speed of any Starfleet vessel. Main Engineering itself was located on Deck 4 and was an open-plan facility, directly accessible from the corridor. Consisting of two levels, it provided direct access to the vessel's warp core and primary engineering support systems. The corridor bulkhead housed the Master Systems Display. Inside the main section, the Master Systems Display was the operational focus of the room. Beyond this, heading towards the warp core, the chief engineer's office and several support consoles were located on the left, and the assistant chief engineer's console on the right. These formed part of the bulkhead protecting the main part of engineering from the warp core. Access to the upper level, a circular area surrounding the warp core, was provided by a ladder to the left of the warp core or an elevator on the right. The upper level had access to other warp core maintenance systems.
Impulse drive[]
The impulse drive system of the Defiant-class wasthe most sophisticated model in production. Its oversized impulse engines were equipped with impulse thrusters that provide superb sub-light maneuvering speed, especially considering her size. With this design, along with the new retro-thrusters, and uprated structural integrity fields give the ship maneuverability equal to the size of a Valkyrie-class advanced tactical flyer.
Warp drive[]
The ship class was installed with a class-7 warp drive, which was extremely powerful for a ship its size. Its warp core spanned three decks in the aft section of the ship.
Equipped with the enhanced warp drive of the Khronnians, Defiant-class Tactical Frigates assigned to Vanguard Command now had a normal cruise speed of Warp 8.5, and a top sustained speed of Warp 9.5.
Quantum slipstream drive[]
The ships of this class assigned to Vanguard Command were installed with the latest quantum slipstream drive. This allows them to travel 300 light years in an hour. The systems installed as part of the slipstream drive included a quantum field focus controller at the front of the ship's main deflector and a chroniton integrator, the latter of which could be used to take sensor readings several seconds into the future when the ship was using its slipstream drive.
Computer systems[]
Each Defiant-class Tactical Frigate attached to Vanguard Command was equipped with some of the most advanced computer systems of the time. The computer system on board was bio-neural based. Computer systems were concentrated in a computer core, which was accessible through a maintenance room. Each Defiant-class vessel carries one main computer core and one back up computer core. The main computer processor was capable of simultaneous access to 47 million data channels, of transluminal processing at 575 trillion calculations per nanosecond, and having operational temperature margins from 10° to 1790° Kelvin. The bio-neural circuitry speed up the computer's data functions and improved overall performance.
Emergency holographic complement[]
All Defiant-class Tactical Frigates attached to Vanguard Command were equipped with holo-emitters on every deck to allow emergency holographic programs a higher level of access and free movement around the ship. The ship’s computer systems couldsimultaneously bring online 1 Emergency Command and Conn Hologram (ECH), 1 Emergency Security and Tactical Hologram (ESTH), 1 Emergency Engineering Hologram (EEH), and 1 Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH).
Accommodations[]
Due to the militaristic nature of the Defiant-class Tactical Frigate, the interior design was the most spartan in Starfleet. Crew quarters had two pairs of stacking bunks fitted into the walls of each cabin. Each cabin was equipped with one replicator port, one bathroom, one dining bar for two, and one standard computer terminal. Only the ship's commanding officer was given his own room on deck 1, which doubled as an informal ready room. For recreation, one holosuite was installed on the ship for the crew in light of its long range missions in the Gamma Quadrant or Delta Quadrant escorting its lead ship. The only other place for informal gathering was the mess hall located on the port side of Deck 2. The mess hall was also compact and functional, which doubled as a makeshift meeting area.
Science and medical facilities[]
In its limited role as a reconnaissance starship, the Defiant-class Tactical Frigates that were made part of Vanguard Command were equipped with a very compact version of the Astrometrics Lab and a dedicated multi-purpose science lab for field testing and investigations. The main sickbay, contained one advanced biobed and two standard biobeds, this room served as the primary crew support facility during emergency situations.
Vanguard Command[]
There were a total of 73 Defiant-class Tactical Frigates in the Vanguard Fleet, serving as escort vessels to larger vessels in the task force formations and providing tactical support to their explorations.
Related links[]
External Links[]
- Defiant class article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Defiant class article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Defiant class article at Star Trek Expanded Universe.
| Defiant-class starships |
|---|
| Federation: USS Defiant • USS Galaga • USS Indefatigable • USS Mongoose USS Belfast • USS Bogota • USS Nike • USS Valiant • USS Gallant • USS Vigilant • USS Slipstream |
| Vanguard universe: USS Defiant (NX-74205) • USS Raging Bull • USS Truculent • USS Sitting Bull • USS Geronimo • USS Grey Cloud • USS War Chief • USS Lionheart • USS Obwandiyag • USS Osceola • USS Wovoka • USS Pontiac • USS Logan • USS Tecumseh • USS Lone Horn • USS Kayi • USS Kinik • USS Sacagawea • USS Tuscarora |
| Terran Rebellion: ISS Insurrection |