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[QUOTE]Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: [QB] This idea was sparked by reading Rick Sternbach's article on the Constellation-class that was posted in another thread. At the end of that article, it was said that the remaining Constellation-class could be kept in service through 2435. (Specifically, over 150 years after commissioning.) This strikes me as an extremely unusual assertion to make, for several reasons. First, the original Constitution-class (including its refit) apparently had a service life of approximately 50 to 60 years. Then there's the Galaxy-class, which was built for a 100-year hull life as mentioned in the TNG:TM. Finally, a vast majority of the movie-era starships (mainly Excelsior, Miranda, and Constellation) have been portrayed as old, slow, and nearing obsolescence. So just what makes the Stargazer different? Furthermore, I wonder just how much a starship can really be upgraded during its lifetime. Certainly refits and added equipment can add to its usefulness over time, especially considering the cutting edge of technology continually advances. I recall someone mentioning that the carrier USS Enterprise had completely new nuclear reactors installed in the early 1980's, so this kind of replacement is certainly believable for any starship as well. However, the simple [i]design and appearance[/i] of starships also seems to imply an important factor in their capabilities. Starships have become ever faster, and the hull frames have become sleeker and more streamlined. (The cursed NX-01 will be ignored for this treatise.) The TNG:TM also suggested that streamlining had something to do with a ship's speed and efficiency. Therefore, I'm not sure if I believe the implication that Starfleet could simply install a more powerful warp core, swap out some warp coils, and end up with an old Excelsior-class starship capable of keeping up with an Intrepid or a Sovereign. Then there's the fact that a starship's internal volume must be allocated and occupied by certain equipment for certain purposes. The Galaxy-class had an abundance of space available, but earlier starships certainly didn't have this luxury. Therefore, something akin to a complete remake of the ship would be required to bring a 23rd century starship up to the standards of 2375. The Constitution-class certainly benefitted from this overhaul in TMP and beyond (apparently, anyway), but there's no real evidence of the Excelsior, the Miranda, or any others having gone through a similar refit. (I will admit that there's nothing to disprove a complete internal refit that kept the outer hull mainly the same, though.) It's always been my opinion that Starfleet was on the verge of a huge turnover of ships in its fleet around the time of the Dominion War. (Yes, production costs in TNG and DS9 were the main cause here, but I'm talking about inside the Trek Universe! :p ) As the Dominion War went on, we started seeing more and more of the newer ships present in the battles, and in more prominent roles. Not to mention the fact that the Excelsior and Miranda workhorses got their asses handed to them on a consistent basis throughout the war. Therefore, it's been my opinion that Starfleet was planning on retiring a large number of the older starships and replacing them with more modern classes wholesale. What's the point of keeping starships around that can't keep up with the technology level? Obviously this would be a drawn out process and they wouldn't just get rid of all the old ships at once; but they WOULD start phasing out the old ships at a greater rate than before. But Sternbach's comment at the end of the article seems to turn all of these ideas on their heads. What do you guys think about it? (Obviously one idea is to simply ignore that one comment. I'm looking for ideas to reconcile the information first before completely rejecting it.) [/QB][/QUOTE]
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