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» Flare Sci-Fi Forums » Star Trek » Starships & Technology » A four nacelle Defiant Pathfinder

   
Author Topic: A four nacelle Defiant Pathfinder
Mikey T
Driven
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I just read my DS9 Tech Manual again and noticed on page 17 that it mentions a four-engine version of the Defiant Pathfinder. True that the only time we saw the original pathfinder was as the Nova Class USS Equinox, could this also exist?

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"Life's a bitch, then you die"
-USS Vanderbilt, Vanderbuilt Class starship


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Michael Dracon
aka: NightWing or Altair
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Try to avoid the words 'original Pathfinder', because the Nova class was actually derived from the Defiant Pathfinder concept and picture.

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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Black Knight
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Yeah, I think it can exist. They would need a high-speed courier.

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Mikey T
Driven
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Sorry about that, I need to watch the screen next time. I'm wondering though if the four-nacelled version would have the 6 torp launcher and cannons. Wouldn't that cause a conflict in the power distribution?

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"Life's a bitch, then you die"
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Bernd
Guy from Old Europe
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I think the four-nacelled ship is rather a Nova variant than one of the Defiant pathfinder which was never built. We could assume the book refers to the pathfinder for simplicity, because the ship (two nacelle version) is depicted there.

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"Species 5618, human. Warp-capable, origin grid 325, physiology inefficient, below average cranium capacity, minimum redundant systems, limited regenerative abilities."
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Mikey T
Driven
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Your right, I forgot that the TM mentions that the Pathfinder was based on a ship hull that is already in existance.

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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Gaseous Anomaly
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I always thought that the Prometheus was based on preliminary Voyager sketches.

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Michael Dracon
aka: NightWing or Altair
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That is what Michael_T said, wasn't it??

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Jim Phelps
watches Voyager AFTER 51030
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The pathfinder thing is worth discussion, as it seems that people have different interpretations of what actually happened in those years. Here's the actual DS9TM text:

"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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Reverend
Based on a true story...
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NXP would most likely mean that it is a experimental-pathfinder, sort of a prototype of a prototype. The WP/T could stand for Warp Propultion/Trial. This would be consistant with what is said.

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Jim Phelps
watches Voyager AFTER 51030
Member # 102

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Agreed. It would seem that Starfleet specifically created the design to study whether or not construction of an entire class of torpedo attack ships would be feasable (it's called a study vehicle after all). The vehicle wasn't designed as part of the Defiant Class Project, but then again it didn't have a Class Project of its own.

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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The359
The bitch is back
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Stripped of all useful equipment and used for target practive (hey, the USN already does that...)

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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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Masao
doesn't like you either
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In the case of the US Navy, some experimental submarine designs simply enter service but are not the lead ship of a new class. If the innovations they have are useful, they may be incorporated in another class of ships. The air force sometimes hands one of a kind planes over to NASA for research (for example, the XB-70 mach 3 bomber).

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum



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Mikey T
Driven
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Maybe in Starfleet Command's case, they make the prototype prototype hull into a one of a kind starship. Or make a useful new class out of it.

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"Life's a bitch, then you die"
-USS Vanderbilt, Vanderbuilt Class starship


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