Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Romulan warbirds

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Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :

Query/Thought on the middle of the warbird, that is the area between the upper and lower hulls. I know we've been given no reason for the apparent wasted space (other than it looks cool) - but one would think the Roms would want to use that area for something, right?

Perhaps they use it to transport "pallets" from system to system - perhaps troop modules, the never seen landing shuttles/craft, military cargo, etc. All of which would let them change their battleship into a troop ship, military supply ship, or whatever very quickly. Given the size of the hole it would hold a lot of stuff.

They would obviously want to drop these things off before charging off to confront the UFP flagship, so we've never seen them.

Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :

Like the USNs few flo/flo ships?
That might be an idea, but why leave it open? It can't be to sensitive of equipment, since it is only protected by the shields. Closing up the space would provide a better ability to work on anything carried.

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Stupid bastards and religious freaks,
so safe in their castle keeps...

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Maybe its a space to protect smaller ships in dangerous situations... like a bird sitting on her chicks!?!

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"I threw bitter tears at the ocean
But all that came back was the tide..." 'I Will Not Forget You' Sarah McLachlan

Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :

I like the smaller ship idea as well, although it wouldn't likely be a primary purpose, or at least I can't think of a reason it would be...?

The pallets or whatever would be enclosed in the shield and warp field, and could be made as hardened as needed - it would still be less costly in materials than putting warp engines, etc. on them...

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

The only problem with this is that model isn't designed to suggest it carries anything on the inside. The whole inner surface is curved and irregular, not what you'd want for a cargo platform.

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :

Here's my theory:

The Romulan Empire wants to build an impressive new starship that will deter any enemy, but with as little costs and new technologies as possible. What better way to do this than to build a ship with a hole?

I think the entire Warbird program is/was a fancy propaganda thing to show the RSE is a major power, while the actual true warships are the regular battlecruisers and the like. Much like the Sovjet Union, actually.

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"Human race in tha house!" KoRn & Kittie, This Town
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Titan Fleet Yards - Harry Doddema's Star Trek Site

[This message has been edited by Prakesh (edited October 14, 2000).]

Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :

Yes, the size of a battleship but the tonnage of a cruiser, if everything would be pressed together all neat 'n tidy!

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Don't forget, I faked all the orgasms.

Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :

Maybe the Warbirds use a sort of 'internal' warp field in order to aid stealth. This may also explain why the warp grills face inward instead of outwards. It could also be used as a cloaked carrier, hiding smaller attack ships inside the hull while under cloak so they can fly out and do a little hit, run and return before the enemy knows what hit them.

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Cluck cluck jibber jibber, my old man's a mushroom etc.

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

Could have something to do with the whole quantum singularity power source thing...

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
- George Bernard Shaw

Posted by Starbuck (Member # 153) on :

The Warbird DOES look imposing... could probably envelop smaller ships in its warp field inside that cavity, or maybe if it's holding cargo or small stations, it would use a tractor beam to hold them in place?

Of course - the big cavity DOES leave it vulnerable to attack - you could do a strafing run right down the inside with the Defiant (as anyone who's seen the intro video or promo for the game "Armada" knows!), or some Danubes or small fighters.

Actually I preferred Andy Probert's ORIGINAL design - which is in "The Art of Star Trek" - where the ship is actually taller than it is wide, with nacelles above and below the "beak". Given that it was the same width as the E-D, THAT would have been imposing!

It's a pity we never really saw a face-off between the E-D and the Romulans... given the actual size of the Warbird it would have been a very impressive shot!

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"Replicate some marmalade, Commander - helm control is toast!"

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

I never felt that the warbird was photographed well in TNG. I didn't even realise how big it was at first, since they never seemed to do a "wow, look at the size of that thing shot", apart from (possible) "The Neutral Zone", where we see the End-D through the inside of the warbird.

I always thought that all the living, science, weapons blah area was in the front "head" part. It's pretty big, and warbirds aren't going to be overrunning with kids, are they? I assumed that the back was mainly mechanical stuff, and that it was shaped that way to help with some TECH, or just to look cool. The Romulans are big on looking big and hard, without actually doing any fighting.

Thank god they've toned down the colour-scheme though. The original "what you find in the bed after a heavy night out" colour wasn't impressing anyone. Except possibly uni students...

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"Why do you want to spend time with a deer? They're so stupid, they get hypnotized by headlights!" - Guido Anchovy

Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :

I like Prakesh's idea of displacement. The displacement of the SSN-688 Los Angeles class was to high by a touch, so the designers put a hole in the sonar dome so it would flood, keeping the size but deceasing the displacement.

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Stupid bastards and religious freaks,
so safe in their castle keeps...

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

After seeing them fight some actual battles, I'd say the warbird is supposed to be a ship of the line, and not just a pretty face.

As for the cavity; as others have suggested, it does let them design a physically imposing ship with an impression of great size without it being overly massive.

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

I reckon that the "Neutral Zone" warbird (and I've said this before) was different to the ships that we have seen in the rest of Trek. I think that the B-type D'Deridex are warbirds as seen in such episodes as "Tin Man" and "Face of the Enemy" but the A-type is the ship seen in "The Neutral Zone". I think since this was the 'first contact' between the Rommies and The Feds in a number of years... they sent out their big-arsed ship to scare the Feds (or whoever was out there destroying their starbases). Just as the Feds often send the Enterprise-D to 'show the flag'.

I do NOT think that the current configuration of the Romulan Warbird is the type of ship that attacked Narendra Three and Destroyed the Enterprise-C... that would have been a ship specific for that era... i.e. the Romulan equivalent of an Excelsior or Ambassador class Starship.

Andrew
Andrew

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"I threw bitter tears at the ocean
But all that came back was the tide..." 'I Will Not Forget You' Sarah McLachlan

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

I prefer the idea that the TNG Warbird has a feature in its cloaking device that allows it to pretend to be bigger than it really is. This feature would be used in first contacts and the like, but would not be all that useful in later contacts...

The older warbirds that killed the E-C were probably never seen by a Starfleet officer who would have survived to tell the story. Klingons probably saw plenty of them during their years of constant combat between TOS and TNG, though. Perhaps Starfleet designated these never-seen warbirds as "type-A" based on Klingon reports?

Then again, "type-A" could refer to the ship seen in TOS. The Romulans are secretive enough not to have shown any of their intermediate designs to the Feds if they absolutely didn't have to.

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by bear (Member # 124) on :

I think I will go with efficiency in generating a warp field. Heck, it would explain why the starfleet ships are so funky looking. I mean, if you had never seen a Startrek ship before you would think the thing flew backwards, or was some kind of futuristic can opener.

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