Spoilers 31st/32nd Century Ships Revealed

[saddestmoon]

Gotta say, the Kirk-Class Armstrong is really growing on me, every time I catch a glance!
I actually quite like the nacelle shapes, and also the layering of the ‘primary’ saucer.

Part of what I’m enjoying about many of these 32nd Century designs is the aquatic-like nature of many of their design cues (even within the variety of silhouettes, shapes that they exhibit).

 

[Vale]

I am still struggling to like some of these new-fangled ships. There are some clean lines here, but all that wrap around banding, is that part of the separation mechanics? I think it should be simpler than past design, not more cluttered looking.

I agree, I think a lot of these ships would look better if they were less fussy. I kind of think the whole detached nacelle/saucer thing isn't going far enough here. Watching that STO Kirk class video, I wondered if that "bridge" module atop the saucer and corresponding module beneath the saucer that are held in place with those cross-bracing elements would look better if they were free-floating too.

 

[Timo]

I gather this is sort of the point: some of these future ships are "on their way there", with dangling bits that are still attached by spindly structures - and some others indicate they are newer by "going all the way" and letting the bits dangle free. Essentially, at least several centuries' worth of designs introduced to the audience at once, so that this era is the very same as every other Trek era in terms of temporal layering, only now "artificially" rather than due to cheapskate recycling of legacy models by TPTB.

DIS seemed to do much the same thing in the pilot episodes, giving a range of shapes and design philosophies even if then slapping the same kind of warp nacelle on every one of them, by that weird and still rather unexplained decree. A "lived-in" Starfleet all at once is what the audience has come to expect whenever introduced to a new era or timeline or whatnot!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Serin117]

Thanks for all the reference fodder in this thread, peeps!
Still much to do, and much more to understand, but its really helping me out with:

 

[darrenjl]

I gather this is sort of the point: some of these future ships are "on their way there", with dangling bits that are still attached by spindly structures - and some others indicate they are newer by "going all the way" and letting the bits dangle free.
Timo Saloniemi

I like this as a premise because to me, this 'wifi' warp drive seems to be a relatively new technology. That is, that once dilithium became scarcer and scarcer, Starfleet tried to design 'lighter' ships that essentially were dilithium-efficient, which gives rise to the random holes and gaps in starships, alongside the spindly wrapping between parts of the starship. It eventually resulted in loosing structure between sections of the ship altogether, once internal beaming and 'forcefield' tech became so advanced as to what we see on screen, alongside this new 'digital wifi plasma' that powers the nacelles. Less and less physical structure made starships more efficient and faster and then we had the Burn which effectively quashed tech development for a few decades.

 

[Jayden Dersch]

Love all Federation ships in General

 

[Timo]

...I only ever saw steam locomotives in it?

Or did you mean you love all generals in Federation ships? (Is that what they call the Faster Than Light Club?)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[LazyReader]

Never the less there's several reasons why these ships may have gotten so BIG.

• Material tech: Improvements in material tech allowed larger ships, Given starfleets propensity for pushing designs and experimenting for experimenting sake.
  
  
• Prestige: Why design a big starship? "Because we CAN"
  
  
• More efficient: Even before the Burn dilithium supplies became scarce and more rare, It would suggest Starfleet decided Bigger ships and a smaller fleet was better option than a bigger fleet of smaller ships.
  
  
• Logistics: Large ships may have bigger load outs. Even before the Burn, stress regarding self sufficiency, so the internal volume may have bays dedicated to more cargo, supplies, food growing (aeroponics) , also in "Discovery" despite the proliferation of better transporters, we see literally Hundreds of small shuttles zipping along doing god knows what around Federation headquarters, so these ships may have huge shuttle bays that take up significant volume.
  
  
• Military power: At some point between 24th and 31st centuries Starfleet may have encountered enemies or assailants with substantial firepower, given these enemies of the past built large battleships, Starfleet in it's wisdom, thus decided larger ships were a deterrent or show of force or ships with bigger more energy consuming weapons.
  
  
• Colony/Humanitarian: Some of the vessels such as the Angelou (flying jungle) incorporated huge artificial ecologies for biological/colonization work. Carry an entire ecosystem on board, drop it off on a newly terraformed planet. Artificial ecosystems may also aid in life support for a ship on critical power supplies. Affinity for real food, to feed a crew of 2000 you'd need 100,000 square meters of farm space.
  
  
• Engineering: Experimentation in improving warp field geometries would explain some of these odd shapes. Much like aerodynamics for planes and automobiles and hydrodynamics for ships and subs. Warp geometry may need odd but stable designs for long term warp sustainability.
  

 

[Timo]

Also, cargo cult: everybody of truly superior (but still physical and corporeal) power that the Feds have encountered has been flying a big ship, for unknown but no doubt perfectly good reasons. Perhaps operating big ships will eventually reveal this hidden benefit?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Vale]

Also, cargo cult: everybody of truly superior (but still physical and corporeal) power that the Feds have encountered has been flying a big ship, for unknown but no doubt perfectly good reasons. Perhaps operating big ships will eventually reveal this hidden benefit?

Timo Saloniemi

Species 8472 ships were small.

 

[DaveyNY]

Species 8472 ships were small.

But they had the advantage of being able to join together and have the power output of a much larger ship.

 

[Telltale Hearts of Qo'noS]

Also, cargo cult: everybody of truly superior (but still physical and corporeal) power that the Feds have encountered has been flying a big ship, for unknown but no doubt perfectly good reasons. Perhaps operating big ships will eventually reveal this hidden benefit?

Timo Saloniemi

The answer is always going to be turbolift funhouse.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Engineering: Experimentation in improving warp field geometries would explain some of these odd shapes. Much like aerodynamics for planes and automobiles and hydrodynamics for ships and subs. Warp geometry may need odd but stable designs for long term warp sustainability.

The fact that "The Borg Cube" was able to keep up with the Enterprise-D despite it having such a odd physical shape of being a cube means that efficient Warp Geometry can take nearly any shape and that StarFleet has much to learn.

 

[F. King Daniel]

For what it's worth, the new Constitution-class (Kirk-class in STO) is about the size of the USS Vengeance from Into Darkness.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The answer is always going to be turbolift funhouse.

That's the next Trek show:

Brian Brophy's Turbolift Funhouse.

 

[LazyReader]

The fact that "The Borg Cube" was able to keep up with the Enterprise-D despite it having such a odd physical shape of being a cube means that efficient Warp Geometry can take nearly any shape and that StarFleet has much to learn.

Borg don't adhere to philosophy of "Efficiency" They have a vessel 3 kilometers wide, if they should desire to divert power to propulsion to keep up with another ship it's not relevant. Starfleet builds smaller vessels, so....efficiency in terms of "MPG" or drag in the interstellar medium are relevant.

 

[Vale]

Borg don't adhere to philosophy of "Efficiency"

They absolutely do, they just don't factor in things like comfort or aesthetics. There are various handwavy explanations about "subspace flow" and "facilitating slippage into higher warp factors" in the TNG Technical Manual concerning why Starfleet ships look streamlined; the real-world explanation, of course, is that streamlining makes the ships look advanced and fast. My headcanon is that the Borg's control of their warp fields is so capable and advanced that they don't need the shape of the hull to facilitate subspace field flow at all.

 

[Markonian]

The new episode establishes the brand-new Archer Spacedock.
It can hold at least three ships at the same time.
Voyager is being outfitted with the 'pathway' drive. Perhaps a portmanteau of pathfinder and Janeway?

A USS Curry is mentioned. Either this is a new ship or a mispronunciation of the already established USS Curie (NCC-81890-J).

 

[Locutus of Bored]

A USS Curry is mentioned. Either this is a new ship or a mispronunciation of the already established USS Curie (NCC-81890-J).

It's the USS Curry, like the 24th century kitbash of the same name and VFX supervisor/producer on TNG-ENT, Dan Curry.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Perhaps a portmanteau of pathfinder and Janeway?

Sounds better than Janefinder drive.