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"Life's a bitch, then you die"
-USS Vanderbilt, Vanderbuilt Class starship
As for the 4 nacelled version, I think it can exist. It will probably be a similar situation to the Miranda/Soyuz Class.
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"Look! I'm quoting myself."
- me
(-=\V/=-)
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I need to think of something...
Quantum Threshold
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"Life's a bitch, then you die"
-USS Vanderbilt, Vanderbuilt Class starship
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"Species 5618, human. Warp-capable, origin grid 325, physiology inefficient, below average cranium capacity, minimum redundant systems, limited regenerative abilities."
Ex Astris Scientia
It's so interesting that a lot of the early designs of ships or in the case of the Defiant Pathfinder end up being used on screen. I just looked through my TNG and DS9 Tech Manuals and through all my ST: The Magazine issues and found out several things.
First of all, one early design of the Defiant looked like the Type-18 shuttlepod. Then there's the Voyager prototype model and the Prometheus Class that has some elements of the prototype. And of course there's the Defiant Pathfinder and the Equinox. Nice to know that they save early designs for possible use in the future.
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"Life's a bitch, then you die"
-USS Vanderbilt, Vanderbuilt Class starship
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Secret spies frm China try to steal you mind's elation,
Little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen flirtation,
And if you want these kind of dreams
It's Californication.
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"Look! I'm quoting myself."
- me
(-=\V/=-)
"The Defiant project, overseen by Admiral Batelle Toh of the ASDB, began with the selection of an existing spacecraft design that had just entered the initial systems-level review stage. No spaceframe had yet been constructed, and the hull shape was undergoing warp field interaction simulations. The study vehicle,
designated NXP-2365WP/T, was being considered as a fast
torpedo attack ship for high-warp penetrations of threat defenses. This Defiant pathfinder would have mounted six torpedo launchers, four in the primary hull and two in the engineering hull, capable of firing photon and quantum torpedoes at speeds up to
Warp 9.982.
When the Borg threat drove the redesign of the pathfinder vessel, it was decided to compact the planform with warp nacelles....."
The Defiant pathfinder was in fact this other prototype vehicle, and it wasn't just based on it. Looks like Starfleet toyed around with the idea of making a new class of fast torpedo attack ships (to be used in Cardassian Wars?), and while not specifically commiting to an XXXX-class development project, it did invest in a prototype, the NXP-2365WP/T (note the unusual registry number).
Once the Borg threat rolled around, the prototype development project became a full fledged Defiant class development project, with revised specifications that destroyed the NXP hull, replacing it with the compact Defiant design instead.
Boris
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Cluck cluck jibber jibber, my old man's a mushroom etc.
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Perhaps even the Galaxy Class Development Project didn't start before an NXP-2341 or so showed that yes, construction of such vessels is feasable, and should be done.
The question is, what happens to these prototypes after the class is approved? Are they scrapped, or do they end up as say, Nebula-class? New Orleans class? Cheyenne class?
Boris
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"The things hollow--it goes on forever--and--oh my God!--it's full of stars!" -David Bowman's last transmission back to Earth, 2001: A Space Odyssey
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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
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"Life's a bitch, then you die"
-USS Vanderbilt, Vanderbuilt Class starship