Yet TMP was one of the best performing Trek Movies adjusted for inflation."just because has never gone over well with this audience since TMP.
Yes, I know it doesn't make you invincible, it just takes longer to kill you.but you're not, you're insisting on reaching for hypothetical hyperstrength, hyperlight, materials that somehow will be the equal of the shields (or better), without hindering the performance of a ship.
i know armor tech and metallurgy have changed a lot and could still change. but within the technological lore of star trek, shields effectively are the armor, and point defense to a degree. plus, thek can be moved around somewhat and even come back, provided the generators and projectors aren't knocked out.
ablative armor just... goes away. and even if you keep replicating more on, that is another power drain, plus eventually your ship will just be surrounded by a cloud of hot gas that is now dumping the heat back into it.
But that's my point, the technology would make battles that traditionally only lasts minutes on screen, into much longer affairs.
A Hour long battle or a few hours is still puny on the cosmic time-scale, so it doesn't save you from getting hurt.
It does drag out the fight though, which is by design.
Making StarFleet Tougher, not really invincible, because nothing is invincible IMO.
Everything can be defeated if you have the right weapons, tech, know-how, etc.
Even "Q" can die if you have the right weapons, so nothing is scared.