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Owner |
United Federation of Planets |
| Class |
Capital Ship |
| Availability |
Limited Availability (33%) |
| In Service |
2376 |
| Out of Service |
n/a |
| Source |
Dominion Wars |
| Author |
Jon Letham & Tyrel Lohr |
| Last Updated |
January 18, 2004 |
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| Description: |
One of the critical strategic problems faced by Starfleet Command during the Dominion War was that Federation forces were spread too thin. Between defending the Federation territory from the Dominion, and keeping a wary eye on the Romulans and trying to go on the offensive against the Dominion, Starfleet found it had too many obligations and too few resources. This problem became even more acute when Starfleet strategists determined that the 'Achilles Heel' of the Dominion was the dependency of the Jem'Hadar on Ketracel-White. If the Federation/Klingon Alliance could destroy, or even severely threaten, the Ketracel-White facilities the Dominion's Alpha Quadrant offensive would grind to a halt. Unfortunately the only ships that either Starfleet or the Klingon Defense Forces had that could do the job were the Galaxy and Negh'Var class ships. No existing vessel could launch the unescorted long-range strikes against heavily defended targets required to take out these facilities. The Defiant Heavy Escorts had too limited operating range and the Galaxy and Negh'Var, while having the necessary operational range, were too expensive in to be feasible. Neither the Federation nor the Klingons were willing to commit such large fleets required to hit these targets. To do so would have entailed compromising the defense of key Federation and Klingon systems. A new, revolutionary ship design would be required to meet this set of mission objectives.
Ship designers at Utopia Planitia were up to the challenge. They not only designed a totally new class ship, the Achilles, but also designed and built it in less than two years. By adapting current anti-Borg designs to the new threat a ship with extraordinary features was created that could fulfill the role of a long-range cruiser with firepower equal to a Sovereign Dreadnought. This was accomplished with the new micro-torpedoes arranged in a 'phalanx' array, allowing for an astoundingly high rate of fire that can cripple any Dominion ship. With the 'broadside' arrangement of the mini-quantum torpedo phalanx the Achilles can defend itself against Jem’Hadar attack craft defending the Ketracel-White facilities while it maintains its focus on destroying the target. Quantum torpedoes and pulse phasers enable the Achilles sufficient firepower to destroy most large fixed targets in one pass. Finally, the Achilles has an unsupported, self-serviceable range equal to the Galaxy Command Ships that is required to operate effectively behind the Dominion defensive perimeter.
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| Related Entries: |
| No Related Entries |
| Design Notes: |
| Design by Jon Letham and Tyrel Lohr. Based on a ship from the Dominion Wars computer game. |
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Questions, comments, or suggestions? Please contact
Tyrel Lohr at contact@tyrellohr.com.
All original content © 2024, Tyrel Lohr.
All other materials are owned by their respective authors.
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