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- For the ship seen in The Original Series' "The Tholian Web" and Enterprise's "In a Mirror, Darkly", see USS Defiant (NCC-1764).
The USS Defiant (NX-74205)
2375 (NCC-75633)
2375 (NCC-75633)
Operational (NCC-75633)
In the Star Trek fictional universe, the USS Defiant (NX-74205) is the lead ship of an experimental class of starships. It is featured in the television series Deep Space Nine and appears in the feature film First Contact. The ship first appears in the DS9 episodes "The Search, Part I", after which it continues to play a significant role throughout the series.
This ship was reportedly named after the Constitution class starship USS Defiant (NCC-1764) from The Original Series.
Officially designated as an escort, the Defiant is a prototype vessel for the Defiant class of warships, originally developed to counter the Borg. Following the Borg invasion of stardate 44002, the United Federation of Planets approved a project committed to enhancing Starfleet's offensive and defensive military capabilities; the Defiant was to be the prototype for a new Federation battle fleet. Benjamin Sisko worked on the project while assigned to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards.
Designed to be fast and highly maneuverable with extremely powerful weaponry, the ship's warp engines were almost too powerful and needed extensive modifications to keep them from tearing the ship apart. The ship was designed specifically for battle, featuring innovative pulse phaser and quantum torpedo armaments, in addition to photon torpedoes, standard phasers and a high-capacity deflector shield system. Ablative armor further protects the hull by dispersing high-intensity directed plasma or particle weapons such as phasers and disruptors. 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, and has a limited infirmary.
The subsiding Borg threat and failed systems tests (particularly in regard to the ship's overpowered engines) led the development project to be was scrapped and the prototype mothballed. However, first contact with the Jem'Hadar (the Dominion's shock troops) in 2370 prompts the ship's relaunch in 2371, under Commander Sisko's command, and assignment to station Deep Space Nine. The Defiant allows the station's crew to travel faster and further and with far more firepower than previously possible using the station's Danube class runabouts.
Once put into service, the Defiant becomes the first Starfleet ship to legally carry a cloaking device. Supplied by the Romulan government, it is initially operated by a Romulan officer serving aboard the Defiant. An agreement between Starfleet and the Romulans limit use of the cloak to intelligence-gathering missions in the Gamma Quadrant, but the cloaking device ends up being used (illegally) in the Alpha Quadrant.
In 2373, the Defiant fights in the Battle of Sector 001 and faces destruction by the Borg before the USS Enterprise-E arrives and leads the remaining Starfleet vessels in destroying the invading Borg cube. During the battle, the Defiant is under the command of Lieutenant Commander Worf and suffers severe – but repairable – damage.
In late 2375, the Breen destroy the Defiant during the invasion of the Chin'toka system. The battle marks the first time the Breen use their energy-depleting weapon, destroying many other alliance ships along with the Defiant. During the planning of the invasion of Cardassia some months later, a new Defiant class starship, the USS São Paulo (NCC-75633), is presented to Sisko and crew. The Starfleet chief of operations grants permission to rename the ship Defiant.
The São Paulo is renamed Defiant prior to the Battle of Cardassia, but in subsequent battle scenes is still seen to have the NX-74205 registry. This is because special effects shots of the old vessel were reused to show the new one. Various fanon theories have attempted to rationalize the difference, the most popular being that Starfleet intentionally mislabeled the new Defiant
Design notes
The Defiant was initially designed by Deep Space Nine art illustrator Jim Martin with contributions from visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel and modelmaker Tony Meininger. The Defiant's addition to DS9 was intended to open up storytelling by making the show more mobile. Original designs called for a "beefed-up" runabout-type ship, but this gave way to a full-fledged starship design, initially called Valiant. This name was dropped out of fear that it would conflict with Voyager and its titular starship, also beginning with a "V". The name Valiant would later be given to another Defiant class ship in the DS9 episode "Valiant"). Although not an actual initial design in the real-world, one of the in-universe designs for the Defiant appears, somewhat modified, in as the Nova class USS Equinox in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Equinox").
There is controversy on the internet regarding the size of the Defiant, since Star Trek canon, semi-canon (e.g. reference manuals), and fanon speculation sometimes provide conflicting specifications.
External links
USS Defiant (NX-74205) | Schiffstypen in Star Trek#Defiant-Klasse | USS Defiant (NX-74205)
"USS Defiant"