USS Defiant - Depiction

Depiction

The ship's backstory is outlined in its first appearance, the third-season episode "The Search". The Defiant is a prototype vessel for the Defiant-class warship, originally developed to counter the Borg threat. It is officially designated as an escort vessel to avoid the perception that Starfleet builds warships, as it is primarily a peacekeeping and exploration force. Following the Borg invasion, the United Federation of Planets approved a project committed to enhancing Starfleet's offensive and defensive military capabilities; the Defiant was the end result of that project. According to his statement in the episode "Defiant", Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was in charge of the shipyard where the Defiant was built and helped design it during his assignment to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards.

Although it was designed to be fast and highly maneuverable with powerful weaponry, the Defiant was 'overgunned and overpowered' for a vessel of its size. The ship's structural integrity field needed extensive modifications to keep the Defiant from tearing itself apart. The ship was designed specifically for battle, featuring innovative phase cannons and quantum torpedo armaments, in addition to photon torpedoes, standard phasers and a high-capacity deflector shield system. Another asset is its ablative armor, enabling the ship to sustain multiple hits from enemy weapons even with the shields inoperable with minimal damage. Inside, the Defiant is relatively spartan by Starfleet standards of the time: the ship is not designed to carry family members, has no science labs or holodecks, and has a limited infirmary. Crew quarters consist of two bunk beds and a general computer interface. Individual quarters have food replicators, but the mess hall is a popular place for the crew to eat on missions.

The subsiding Borg threat and failed systems tests (particularly in regard to the ship's overpowered engines) led the development project to be stalled and the prototype to be mothballed. Following work done at Deep Space Nine, the class would later go into production with at least a half dozen other ships in service by 2374 and onward.