On Stardate 42761.3, the U.S.S. Entperprise, NCC-1701-D, was flung deep into the Delta Quadrant of the galaxy by the omnipotent entity known as the Q. At this time, the Entperprise made first contact with one of the Federations deadliest foes, the Borg. A year later, a single Borg starship entered Federation territory, destoyed a colony, and whiped out a joint Starfleet and Klingon armada at the imfamous Battle of Wolf 359. It was only through the cunning ingenuity of the Enterprise crew that the Borg did not succeed in assimilating Earth. What the Borg did succeed in doing, though, was to show Starfleet that it definitely needed to up its defences. As a result, the Defiant Class Development Project was born. Officially designated as an escort, the USS Defiant became the first Federation starship with one unique primary purpose, that of warship. She was designed to move fast and hit harder than anything of her size class and many larger ships. The Defiant orignally had a design that was more reminescent of other Starfleet ship designs, with a standard primary/secondary hull/outboard nacelle configuration. This design was eventually rejected as being too vulnerable. The basic design of this Defiant pathfinder vessel would eventually show up again, redesigned as the Nova class science vessel. Because she was so overpowered for her size, the development team, including then Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko, noticed that she had a tendenacy to fly herself apart. Only through extensive SIF and IDF system modifications made later by Deep Space 9 Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien was the Defiant able to keep herself together. Soon after the Defiant was completed, the Dominion revealed itself to be a powerful threat from the Gamma Quadrant by the destruction of the Galaxy Class USS Oddysey. It was obvious that the mostly defenseless Deep Space 9 would be the first battleground, as it was sittting right on top of the doorway between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants, the Bajoran Celestial Temple or Wormhole. Because of Sisko's involvement with the Defiant development project, Starfleet Command ordered the assignment of the first ship, the USS Defiant, to Sisko and DS9. By a special agreement with the Romulan Star Empire, a Romulan cloaking device was lent to Starfleet for the Defiant, with, at the time, the condition that it was only to be used in the Gamma quadrant and/or against the Dominion. However, as per the Treaty of Algeron, the USS Defiant was the only Federation starship to officially be equipped with a cloaking device. Once based at DS9, the Defiant underwent numerous modifcations to not only to keep her flying herself apart, but also to increase survivablity. One of the main additions was the ablative armor plating, which has hence become standard on all major starships. Derived from old Earth space ships, the ablative armor evaporates as it is hit by Threat weapons fire, causing the destructive energy to be taken away from the hull. Although it wouldn't make the Defiant invulnerable, it would give it a few extra moments should the shields fail.
Common to most ships in the Defiant class, with a few minor differences, were the primary tactical systems. The primary weapons array consisted of four forward firing heavy pulse phaser cannons derived from the heavy phasers in use almost 70 years before by the Miranda class light cruiser. In addition to the phasers, the Defiant class was also fitted with 3 forward and two aft firing torpedo tubes. These tubes were capable of launching probes, standard photon torpedoes, and the newly developed quantum torpedoes. Some variations on the tactical systems in use on other ships of the Defiant class included the addition of small Type X phaser arrays on the dorsal and ventral surfaces. These allowed those ships which were fitted a little more defense in their rear quarter, as well as giving them better strafing abilities against larger, slower moving targets. As it was such a small ship whose purpose was purely offensive, the Defiant had very spartan crew quarters. The minimal crew shared quarters consisting of a pair of bunks with privacy screens and a small desk with a computer terminal. Each set of quarters also had a small replicator, but most chose to dine in the larger, but still utilitarian mess hall, which also could be used as a briefing room. The ship's infirmary was also quite small, but still stocked with the latest medical advances. Later ships were eventually equipped with an Emergency Medical Holographic program so that an extra ship's surgeon was not necessary.
Although the Defiants were small ships, Starfleet R&D managed to cram a set of shuttlebays into them. This allowed them to carry two small type 18 shuttlepods and a type 10 shuttlecraft, which was actually devolped later and retrofitted once deemed useful after testing ont he Defiant herself. The Defiant also had a number of low observability escape pods capable of evacuating the whole crew should the need arise.The Defiant and her sister ships helped turn the tide of the very bloody war with the Dominion, but at a great cost. The atrition rate for these small ships was alsmot as high as the Miranda class in the Dominion War, but only because the Miranda's were so numerous to begin with. The USS Defiant herself was eventually destroyed soon after the Breen entered the conflict, as the Breen had developed weaponry which could disrupt all electrical systems on board a starship, rendering it completely shieldless and helpless. Deep Space 9 was eventually granted another Defiant class ship, the USS Sao Paulo, which was allowed special dispensation and renamed Defiant. She ventually went on to fight in the final Battle of Cardassia, where the Dominion surrendered to the Federation.Today, the Defiant class still lives on in the form of the Thunderbolt class. Few modifications have been made to the worthy space fram over the years, except to make her more stable. Currently, most main line starbases and outposts have a Thunderbolt class escort assigned to it for patrol and definsive duties.
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