Defiant-class starships in peacetime

[apenpaap]

OK, you're right, and I just realized that in the prime timeline, the Romulans tried to annex Vulcan too. Well, it was more of a joke then a serious suggestion anyway.

 

[Star Wolf]

This is just ludicrous, you're suggesting something like 300 Defiant Class ships used just to patrol single planets around the Federation.

Just as ludicrous as forming convoys to protect civilian ships from..... what?

 

[Sci]

This is just ludicrous, you're suggesting something like 300 Defiant Class ships used just to patrol single planets around the Federation.

Just as ludicrous as forming convoys to protect civilian ships from..... what?

Depends on what part of space the convoys are operating in, now doesn't it? I shouldn't want to run a convoy of ships anywhere near the Klingon border, for instance. Even if the Klingons are cool, ENT established that the Orion Syndicate operates quite a bit near that border. And I wouldn't want to be running a convoy in the Bajor Sector -- outside of the Bajor system. Between the ruined Cardassia, the Ferengi, the Breen, and the Tzenkethi, the whole area seems surrounded by assholes at best and hostiles at worst.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Not to mention various non-aligned pirate and other outlaw ships out there who don't quite share the Federation's enlightened ideas. Anything beyond the core Federation systems--especially in sparsely-populated sectors--can be quite dangerous, IMO.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Q uses them as hockey pucks.

 

[Star Wolf]

Not to mention various non-aligned pirate and other outlaw ships out there who don't quite share the Federation's enlightened ideas. Anything beyond the core Federation systems--especially in sparsely-populated sectors--can be quite dangerous, IMO.

You don't mobalize convoy ships if the threat is that big you go to war. If the threat is not big enough for war you use your peacetime dual purpose ships thus the question of the peacetime role is moot.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Not to mention various non-aligned pirate and other outlaw ships out there who don't quite share the Federation's enlightened ideas. Anything beyond the core Federation systems--especially in sparsely-populated sectors--can be quite dangerous, IMO.

You don't mobalize convoy ships if the threat is that big you go to war.

No you don't. If that was the case, we'd be at World War XVII by now.

Pirates and outlaws have always been with us--and we just had a real-world wakeup to that fact not too long ago. Most of these are very small operations and are considered more petty criminals or thugs than a genuine threat to nation's sovereignty. As long as there's someone out there with a vehicle and a desire to take things from others, there's always going to be thieves out there.

Civilian ships seem to be generally unarmed, and in regions where there is known criminal activity, Starfleet may deploy a ship to police the area or to merely serve as a deterrent to any pirates that might be tempted to try something.

If the threat is not big enough for war you use your peacetime dual purpose ships thus the question of the peacetime role is moot.

The majority of known Federation starship designs do seem to capable of a wide range of missions, but we're talking specifically about the Defiant-class, a design that was apparently built more with defense operations in mind than anything else.

And just because it's peacetime doesn't mean one doesn't need a police force. There have been episodes in Trek--and the TNG episode "The Last Outpost" comes to mind right now--that Starfleet seems to also act as a police force as Federation domestic and civil operations appear to be part of its overall mission too.