posted
I would think that Starfleet has only up to 6 Intrepid Classes in full operation (Four minimum). And Federation Space is vast. Remember when the Galaxy Class was new and then Enterprise-D rarely saw any other Galaxy Class during the run of the seven seasons. The other ships were at different sectors and on missions.
------------------ He can't be unoriginal The way I feel is sexual The way I feel is sexual.
He can't be just intellectual The way I feel is sexual The way I feel is sexual When you're next to me.
1)The Intrepid is like, 5 times smaller than a Galxay. 2)The Intrepid class was completed over 6 years ago. 3)The war would mean that Starfleet would use every resource they have, including very fast scout ships
So, I highly doubt that there are only 4-6 of them out there. IMO, it makes no sense.
posted
Tom actually says to Kim that the ship was built for combat performance, not musical performance. In my books, not being a flying Juillard does not equate to being a warship... This was just wordplay that would not have worked with anything else except "combat performance" - just try it with, say, "exploration performance" and you lose all the punch in the punchline. "Combat performance" is English, "exploration performance" is technobabble.
The Intrepids may not necessarily be easier to build than larger ships: they do feature complex technology like the folding nacelles and landing capability that probably would result in a low-performance compromise ship unless exceptional effort was put into the design. The ships could be "silver bullets" so that not only do they not operate in big fleets (because of their speed), they are also rather few in number in Starfleet overall (because of their cost). Perhaps the very similar Yeagers are built instead, featuring everything the Intrepids have except the superfluous landing capability?
posted
Timo already further elucidated what I think about it too. If any ship is a smaller version of the Galaxy, then it's the Intrepid. A small explorer. The Intrepid has the finest in technology, bio-neural gel packs, foldable warp nacelles, Warp 9.975, landing gear, not to mention lots of shuttles . Probably none of these features is likely to be a great advantage in combat, but it is exactly what a ship akin to a Galaxy needs. The ship might have several visiting scientists on its usual missions, more than were present when Voyager serached for the Maquis ship. I think more Intrepids aren't being built for the same reason why there are not so many Galaxies. The combat performance vs. size and building efforts is better for other classes.
------------------ "Naomi Wildman, sub-unit of Ensign Samantha Wildman, state your intentions." (VOY: "Infinite Regress")
posted
It could be possible that the Federation still wants to explore, despite the war effort. Since the Galaxys are being used for their full potential as warships and or diplomatic vessels (i.e. Bellepheron), the Intrepids are being used as a supplement until the Galaxys can return to their regular duties. As stated earlier, the Intrepids design innovations seem to be more suited for exploration than combat.
------------------ Quark-"Stop. Or I'll disintigrate this hostage."
20th Century General-"With Your Finger?"
Quark-"With my death ray."
20th Century General-"Looks alot like a finger to me."
posted
It was sent to find the Maquis. And besides, why was the Defiant on a science mission if that's not her mission? Because they wanted her to!
And we know the Enterprise-E was exactly fighting in the war 24/7. She was off on diplomatic missions and such.
------------------ "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
. Probably none of these features is likely to be a great advantage in combat, but it is exactly what a ship akin to a Galaxy needs. The ship might have several visiting scientists on its usual missions, more than were present when Voyager serached for the Maquis ship. I think more Intrepids aren't being built for the same reason why there are not so many Galaxies. The combat performance vs. size and building efforts is better for other classes.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
