O’BRIEN-CLASS RAPID-RESPONSE, MULTI-PURPOSE VESSEL

Vessel type

Rapid response multi-purpose starship

Classification

Crisis response

Design authority

Advanced starship design bureau

Construction site

Utopia Panitia orbital shipyards, sol/mars

Controlling authority

Starfleet command/united federation of planets

Crew complement

Passenger berthing’s

0 (dependant on situational module)

Spaceframe life expectancy

100+ standard years

Mass

355,000 metric tons

Total decks

Cruise speed

9.975

Emergency speed

9.995 (for 18 hours)

Length

170.68 metres

Width

139.78 metres

Height

23.45 metres

Warp core

Class 7 warp drive (tricyclic input manifold modification)

Armaments

2 type xiii pulse phaser cannons

2 quantum torpedo launchers (fore)

2 photon torpedo/probe launchers (aft)

2 type ix phaser emitters (1 dorsal, 1 ventral)

Armaments can be expanded via situational modules

Shuttles

4 type 18 shuttlepods

Can house 1 type 10 shuttlecraft via situational module

Workbees

Escape pods

Transporters

Defenses

Auto-modulated shield system: capacity 2.376m terajoules

Duranium/Tritanium alloy (internally cooled)

Ablative hull armour 20cm

Expanded heat sink system

Electro-magnetic countermeasure suite

Eam (EM absorbent material) external coating

Modular plasma-injectors (warp signature suppression 2-3 hours)

Additional information:

Commissioned as a means of responding to any number of emergencies or situations that may arise and require expedient attention. The design was assembled from sections of the tactical escort line of vessels to be repurposed (namely primary hull of valiant, deflector array of defiant and nacelles of Sao Paulo). Its size, adaptability and power output were paramount in establishing its role as a rapid response vessel (RRV).

Innovations derived from the USS Voyager propulsion systems upon its return from the delta quadrant allowed for, what initially was a short-range attack craft, to become a long-range emergency vessel by maintaining high warp for extended periods of time, including a boost to the structural integrity fields.

An interchangeable module system, on its ventral side in place of type 10 shuttle bay, was devised to adopt situational mission pods in order to prepare for any eventuality, for example engineering parts and teams in order to help ships adrift, medical bays to respond to an outbreak on a remote world, or even additional accommodations for diplomatic envoys. This made the process of readying a ship for purpose go from hours to minutes as a module can be swapped at a standard starbase in about 15-30 minutes (providing preparations are complete upon arrival), as opposed to repurposing an active section of a ship.

Due to the nature of certain missions, stealth is favoured over confrontation. With the treaty of Algernon still in place the use of cloaking technology is still forbidden. And so, a number of countermeasures were implemented to allow the vessel to be shielded from sensors, especially at long range. An EMC suite to mask the ship’s EM field, additional heat sinks and cooling to the external hull to reduce thermal footprint against the near absolute zero of space, even down to an EM absorbent coating on the hull to combat analogue types of detection such as sonar/radar. The nacelles are also equipped with modular plasma-injectors in order to suppress the ship’s warp signature so that it cannot be tracked, this “silent running” mode can only be maintained for between 2-3 hours as the thermal build-up could potentially cook the crew alive. So though, these systems bend the rules in what can be considered a ‘cloak’, but these passive modifications are not considered in violation of the treaty. As a result of these stealth systems, there are some compromises that must be noted for the additional space they take up. Its crew complement and its armaments are slightly diminished in comparison to its escort counterparts, but the use of adaptive systems more than make up for reduced offensive capability. The boosted ability to dissipate heat (via heat sink system) allow for “overclocking” the tactical systems that the rate of fire and energy output of phase weaponry is increased, coupled with its smaller profile (than defiant and valiant) and external coating also decreases the effectiveness of enemy targeting sensors making it harder to hit. And the ability to add weapon systems via module allow for an effective offensive vessel, should the need arise.

Considering the versatility, adaptability and the lineage of vessels that came before, it is only fitting that this class of vessel honour the person so instrumental to the field development of the escort series, that it be dubbed the O’Brien class starship.