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Post A Reply Login Name: Password: Message: HTML is enabled. UBB Code™ is enabled. [QUOTE]Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: [QB] In one way, I'm thinking that sending out lone ships for the five-year exploration missions was extraordinarily ambitious and possibly overconfident. After all, Christopher Columbus sailed to America with three ships. The concept of an all-in-one explorer is definitely a workable concept, considering that it was quite obviously a success in TOS and TNG. A large starship that has the ability to perform long-range surveys of entire sectors, make contact with new civilizations, and explore new uncharted regions of space. I could be wrong about this, but it seems to me that the majority of the Starfleet ships lost have been in exceptional circumstances, and the majority of exploration missions are relatively safe. Many people call the Galaxy Class project a failure; but considering that the Yamato was destroyed by an extraordinarily advanced computer virus and the Odyssey was destroyed by a vastly more prepared and aggressive alien race, I don't think that there's a major problem with the technology in Starfleet. My major policy change, IMO, should be the division of Starfleet into two sections -- the Tactical Division and Exploratory Division. Each would be overall separate, but fall under the umbrella of the upper echelon of Starfleet Command itself. I think this would help establish clear priorities for each of the purposes, with the main goal of enhancing Starfleet's defensive capabilities. Not to say that there was something specifically wrong with how Starfleet managed itself in the TNG era, but it seems to me that it was overall unprepared for the extreme aggression that some races presented -- the Borg, the Dominion, and so forth. These are foreign forces from distant parts of the galaxy, that have little or no stake in local politics and diplomacy and are pursuing specific agendas without regard for local influences. As the Federation expands with ever-faster starships and more advanced technology, the probability of encountering more of these kinds of forces increases. A dedicated Tactical Division would enable Starfleet to create specific defense capabilities; mention was made in DS9 of Betazed's planetary defenses, which were obviously outdated and then completely swept away. There are numerous instances of poor monitoring of border regions, gaps in the patrol patterns, and the lack of resources for defense in depth. Having a Starfleet that is supposed to be both explorer and defender simultaneously means that it will end of doing neither to the best of its ability. The Galaxy Class was built to be the best exploration platform ever conceived -- and within a few years, the Enterprise-D was doing nothing but cruising around Federation space stamping out political brushfires, because it was also one of the best defensive platforms of its time. Because of that, the exploration programs obviously suffered. Without dedicated defensive forces, the exploration programs can't devote their entire mission to exploration, and are innately hindered by their need to split their focus. This will probably sound very fanboyish, but I think it's true regardless -- launching a large fleet of Defiant-class warships (or other ships of similar capabilities) would be a good idea for Starfleet. The Defiant has proven itself a very capable defender and patrol vessel; it rarely needs to be very far from port, and so provisions for longer duration cruises are unnecessary. The elimination of most scientific gear lets it pack in more defensive and offensive power. A super-high warp speed isn't necessary because the ship doesn't go too far from home. And when concentrated in numbers, it's a good bet that they can pack a huge punch. Having a dedicated patrol fleet of Defiants would give Starfleet the kind of security it needs -- not just against the Borg, but against any kind of conventional or moderately unconventional threat. At the same time, perhaps sending more than one ship on a five-year exploratory cruise would be a workable idea. The Galaxy Class is certainly more than capable of defending itself, but in some ways it's always struck me as slightly limited by its inability to divert its attention to more than one place. What if a Galaxy were accompanied by two smaller ships -- a small dedicated survey ship, and a small dedicated defensive combat ship. Take Lewis and Clark's expedition of 1804-1806 as an example: there were plenty of instances where they would split up into two or more parties to cover more ground, to explore tributary rivers, or to scout for potential attackers. Having more than one ship in an explorer mission would increase the resources needed to supply it, but I have no doubt that it could also increase its effectiveness. The loner do-it-all is not necessarily the most effective method all the time. Obviously, Starfleet needs to carefully practice moderation in these changes. Certainly, a dedicated combat division would create the danger of a more military-like organization that is contrary to the values of the Federation. Likewise, the need to defend those values of the Federation do require action. I think that Starfleet of the TNG era, while overall adequate for the military necessities of the time, was still focused too much on the exploration aspects of its mission and thus lost valuable time when it needed to convert to military focuses in the late 2360's and early 2370's. Hopefully, Starfleet can avoid becoming a more overtly military force with such blatantly aggressive ships like the "Renaissance" [URL=http://www.startrekrenaissance.com/features/technical_manual/section_seven.shtml]Rapid Reaction Force[/URL], too. I think I've rambled on long enough, don't you? ;) [/QB][/QUOTE]

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