Designed shortly after first contact with the Borg Collective, the Defiant Class starship has always been intended to be a purely military vessel. Specially designed to supplement the tactical abilities of Starfleet, the Defiant was designed to be a high speed, fast attack craft capable of infiltrating enemy defenses and engaging hostile forces, conducting covert operations, or serving as a mobile defensive platform.
Originally the Defiant was supposed to be based upon a traditional Starfleet design ethic. Based upon the designs originated with the Sovereign Class, the Defiant Pathfinder was intended to be a mobile weapons platform. Featuring 8 torpedo bays and multiple phaser arrays, work on the Defiant Pathfinder changed when Starfleet Tactical requested a smaller design with a far lower defensive profile. They also intended for this new Defiant to become the testbed for several newly designed technologies for use against the Borg Collective.
The Defiant Project became a stripped down Starfleet vessel soon afterward, lacking provisions for scientific missions or diplomacy; recreation facilities (such as holodecks) and family based facilities were also removed soon afterward. The medical facilities were also extremely limited. The graceful lines that had been a staple of Starfleet design for centuries was removed and replaced by a somewhat boxy design. The external warp nacelle cowlings were directly attached to the Defiant�s hull, granting the ship a stronger control over it�s warp field. A more advanced sensor package was attached to the ship during it�s construction as well, and a prototype warp core was added into the design during the initial construction phase.
Defiant was not able to engage the Borg threat during the Battle of Wolf 359, but the loss of the 39 vessels in the engagement with the Borg Cube gave new importance to this class of ship. Work increased as new officers were brought into the Project to assist with the design and construction. New technologies including a prototype Ablative Hull Armor were added into the design and experimental quantum torpedoes were also brought aboard for testing. A further change emerged when Starfleet added a detachable forward �warhead� section that could be used as an escape pod or , as its name suggested, a warhead. In 2368 the Defiant launched from Utopia Planetia for testing under the command of Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko.
The shakedown was a series of failures. When brought to full power the Defiant nearly ripped itself to part. Testing of the experimental pulse phasers led to an explosion aboard the ship and several fires resulted. Two people were killed and a dozen were injured in the damage, further Defiant would need to return to base for massive repairs. Deemed to be overpowered and over gunned, work to rectify this began. When the threat of the Borg died down, so did the necessity of the Defiant Project. The ship was drydocked and somewhat forgotten.
After the destruction of the USS Odyssey by the Dominion, Commander Benjamin Sisko requested that the Defiant be assigned to his care at Deep Space Nine. Outfitted with a cloaking device for reconnaissance in the Gamma Quadrant, the ship was taken to Deep Space Nine and prepared for her new purpose. The problems with the phasers were fixed by channeling energy through the warp propulsion systems - which had the also unintended results of increasing phaser power by 30%. Soon after this goal was reached Defiant was taken into the Gamma Quadrant on it�s first mission. The ship was disabled, but proved herself more than once in subsequent use.
The Defiant was capable of warp travel, but this became increasingly more difficult as speed increased. The ship when breaching the Warp 9 barrier would literally start tearing itself apart. The Warp Propulsion Problems took a little more time to fix, but the Engineering teams of Miles O�Brien were able to mend the problems by increasing power to the structural integrity fields. The unfortunate thing is that changes to mend the problem require weapons power to be transferred and sometimes rendered inoperable.
Despite the accomplishments of the Defiant Prototype, production didn�t commence until war was formally declared against the Dominion Cardassian Alliance. Starfleet feared that the production of a purely militaristic vessel would lead to questions of their becoming too militaristic, but with the war the necessity of the Defiant was realized and production resumed. The Defiant Class discontinued production following the completion of the war with many of the class being placed into mothballs until the Klingon Conflicts of the late 24th Century. Construction of the Defiant Class occurs sparingly and normally only in periods where Starfleet expects the possibility of expansive conflict.
Propulsion:
2 LF-35 Linear Warp Drive Units
2 FIG-2 Subatomic Unified Energy Impulse Units
Reaction Control System Thruster Assemblies
Velocity:
Standard Cruising Velocity: Warp 6.0
Maximum Cruising Velocity: Warp 8.7
Maximum Attainable Velocity: Warp 9.982
All stop to full impulse: 3.9 seconds
Full impulse to Warp 1: .48 seconds
Warp 1 to Warp 4: .96 seconds
Warp 4 to Warp 6: 2.8 seconds
Warp 7 to Warp 8.7: 4.1 seconds
Warp 8.7 to Warp 9.982: 2.7 seconds
Phasers:
4 Type XVIII Pulse Phaser Cannons
6 Type XVI Single Mount Phaser Banks
Torpedoes:
2 Mk 100 Burst Fire Torpedo Tubes
(Photon/Quantum)
2 Mk 50 Direct Fire Photon Torpedo Tubes
Special: Ablative Hull Armor, High Yield Warhead
Shields: FSQ Primary Forcefield and Deflector Control System
Primary Computer System: M-15 Isolinear V Processor/LCARS Version 5.0
Primary Navigation System: RAV/ISHAK Mod 3 Warp Celestial Guidance
Primary Warp Core System: Type 7 Matter/Antimatter Warp Propulsion Core
Embarked Craft:
Shuttlecraft (Type 10): 1
Shuttlepods (Type 16): 2
The Defiant Class starship was created by James Martin under the direction of Herman Zimmerman and Gary Hutzel for use on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Updated specifications and history of the Defiant Class are by William Teagarden and based upon data obtained from Starship Spotter. Image of the Defiant Class is by William Teagarden. Special thanks to Bridge Commander Files.
Task Force 5 is based upon Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry and is in no way affiliated with CBS Corporation, Paramount Pictures Corporation, or Viacom. Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, and all related marks are registered trademarks of Paramount Pictures and their respective owners; no copyright violation is intended or desired.