The prototype of this class, the USS Defiant NX-74205, was built as a proof-of-concept - the idea was to create the first ever Federation warship. The design team took the standard layout of a Federation Starship, removed all the unnecessary elements and beefed up what was left as far as possible. The result was an extremely powerful, fast, agile and light "first strike assault cruiser", ideal for intercepting enemy incursions and doing maximum damage ahead of the arrival of heavier ships.

In addition to being an effective combat vessel, the Defiant Class is also perfectly suited to short-range missions, and tend to be tethered to a Starbase. In the case of the USS Dauntless, we are tethered to Starbase 8, the base of operations for SFI's 8th Fleet.

The Defiant Class specifications are as follows (courtesy of the Daystrom Institute Technical Library):

Dimensions :	Length : 170.68 m
	Beam : 134.11 m
	Height : 30.1 m
	Decks : 4 (A pair of large Jeffrey's Tubes beneath the nacelles are sometimes considered a 5th deck)
Mass :	355,000 metric tons
Crew Capacity :	50 (150 evacuation limit)
Armament :	4 x Class I rapid fire phaser pulse cannon
	1 x Type X phaser bank, total output 70,000 TeraWatts
	3 x Pulse fire quantum torpedo tube
	1 x Probe/photon launcher equivalent to standard photon torpedo tube with 120 rounds
Defense Systems :	Auto modulated shield system, total capacity 2,376,000 Terajoules
	Heavy Duranium/Tritanium Double hull plus 20 cm Ablative armour.
	High level Structural Integrity Field
Warp Speeds :	Normal Cruise : 6
	Maximum Cruise : 8.7
	Maximum Rated : 9.513 for 12 hours.
Strength Indices :	Beam Firepower : 1,400
(Galaxy class = 1,000)	Torpedo Firepower : 2,150
	Weapon Range and Accuracy : 810
	Shield Strength : 880
	Hull Armour : 3,400
	Speed : 955
	Combat Manoeuvrability : 8,660

To see specific information on individual systems and sections, select from the list below: