Intruder Class

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Revision as of 13:51, 1 June 2007

Template:Starship specs The Intruder-class is brainchild of then Vice President Edward Jellico. A relatively small, multi-platform starship that utilizes standardized technologies, it is short on construction time and costs. It was designed to fill the need to expand the operations of the Starfleet Re-Exploratory Initiative without pulling much needed ships away from the defense of the Sol System. Unlike the other newest class in the fleet (the Enterprise-class) the Intruder does not push the envelope as far as technology is concerned. It uses tried and true systems, trading enhanced capabilities for reliability and durability. The first ship of the class, the USS Intruder, was commissioned in 2405.

Development History

The genesis of the Intruder class is intertwined with the operations of the SRI and continuing need for Sol System defense. As the need for exploration gained momentum in the years directly following the Borg War, certain elements in the government saw a new threat to the security of the Federation. Namely, ships they saw as desperately needed for system defense, including the new flagship, were being assigned away from Earth. The turmoil of the space outside Sol prohibited exploratory craft such as the Nova-class from operating with the SRI, so other warships were being assigned. The elements of the government that opposed these assignments eventually solidified behind the vocal opposition of Vice President Jellico. Knowing that the increased activity of SRI would be impossible to stop, Jellico decided that a new ship was needed to fill the role created by the new galactic landscape.

The new design would be a ship that would land somewhere between the Defiant and Nova classes in terms of ability, while maintaining the same relative size of the other two ships. The idea was to create an easily constructed design of a very modular nature that would still fulfill the mission requirements demanded of SRI. Jellico brought in Captain Henrich Kaiser of the Starfleet Advanced Starship Design Bureau and gave him a simple mandate: build it simple and build it fast.

The team assembled by Kaiser began development of the newly named Intruder class in early 2303 at Utopia Planitia. The team incorporated the normal development engineers but also mixed in several active line officers from the engineering departments around the fleet in order to provide the "what worked in the field" viewpoint. Unlike many new craft, many elements were lifted nearly unchanged from existing classes, such as the warp core from the Intrepid class ship. This was done not only to ease construction requirements, but also with an eye for use by crew down the line. With so many familiar systems, the Intruder would have an easy learning curve for new officers ensuring that much of the normal "feeling out" period new ships underwent would be absent. Apart from the hull design itself, almost everything else would be a pre-existing systems.

After the initial designs were finalized, attention turned to what the ship would require to support it's operations. Without the once widespread Starfleet presence the Intruder class would have to be almost completely self sufficient, a design wrinkle never before required of such a small vessel. The engineers were forced to turn their thoughts beyond the completion phase of the design, and look towards possible problems down the road. The records obtained from the USS Voyager and USS Equinox were looked at in detail to find what were the biggest hurdles that would be face. One of the major problems were repairs to the ship without dry dock facilities, an occurrence that would happen now with a far more alarming frequency. It was decided that in addition to it's standard auxiliary craft compliment, the Intruder would ship with a yard Work Bee aboard to handle external repairs, a first for ship of her size. In addition, more of the ship's cargo capacity would be devoted to parts storage as many times replicator systems could not be counted on in times of crisis, and assistance via distress call could be a long time coming.

The design team had stayed with Jellico's mandate of simplicity, and with a total development time of just over two years they had worked quickly as well. The classes namesake was launched in the early months of 2405, and after a quick shakedown was commissioned into the fleet near mid year.

Development Summary

• February 2403: Starfleet issues a general design brief for a small, multi purpose vessel capable of deep space exploration as well as combat. The general idea is for a modular starship, which would replace the Nova Class and provide a substantial increase over it's predecessor's combat capabilities. The Intruder class is approved by Starfleet as the prototype vehicle. Permission for base designs are approved.
• May 2403: Primary and secondary chassis's now at 100% completion. Computers are delivered for fitting work.
• July 2403: Theoretical Propulsions Dynamics labs send a Intrepid Class warp core, fully functional, for fitting and testing with the bare chassis. Chassis latching system passes Review One. Spaceframe is 74% completed.
• January 2403: Computer system are operating at 81% of maximum. System expected to become self aware within the year. Warp core begins primary testing. Spaceframe nears completion with final attachment of the navigational deflector array. Bridge module attached to Primary hull.
• March 2404:Antimatter regulation control is found to be outside acceptable levels. Primary magnetic containment malfunction found to be a problem with primary injectors.
• July 2404:Primary hull work complete. Habitat modules are attached and bridge unit is brought to functional status. Chassis is completed. Starfleet push forward to phase II. Impulse systems pass Review Three and being autonomous low level power control. Secondary backup generators are shut down and become auxiliary system control.
• November 2404: Warpcore passes Review Three and it tested to 85% peak. Impulse systems pass Review Three and being autonomous low level power control.
• January 2405:Secondary backup generators are shut down and become auxiliary system control. Computer system fully self aware and umbilical from the station are cut as the ship become self sufficient. USS Intruder leaves dry dock for primary testing estimate to last four months.
• April 2405: USS Intruder return to Utopia Planitia. Warp stress coating and final exterior markings and paint are applied to hull. All primary tests have passed Review 4.
• May 2405: On 13, May 2305 the USS Intruder is officially commissioned by Starfleet at Utopia Planitia during a brief ceremony. Bridge Plaque is put in pride of place by President Edward Jellico.

Master System Display

Intruder class MSD

OOC Info

The Intruder class is based on Stuart Baldwin's Interceptor class, with elements FE'ized.