Category:Defiant class starships

The Defiant-class starship, officially an escort vessel, began development around 2366 as a small, highly-powered, heavily-armed warship intended to defend the United Federation of Planets against the Borg. The USS Defiant (NX-74205) was the prototype of what was to be a new Federation battle fleet. However, the ship had numerous design problems that were made apparent during its shakedown cruise. These flaws, combined with the decreased urgency of the Borg threat, caused Starfleet to table its plans for a battle fleet and put the Defiant in storage.

The Defiant prototype was pulled out of storage in 2371 when the Dominion threat emerged. After several upgrades by Deep Space 9 Operations staff, the ship was deemed worthy of use and more ships of the class were constructed. (DS9: "The Search, Part I", "Call to Arms"; VOY: "Message in a Bottle") As of 2381, the Defiant class was Starfleet's primary escort class.