The first bold :
- Not every ship can be upgraded to the top ship of the line. All is based on the hull.
When has that ever been said in Star Trek?
How can you put the latest torpedo launcher if the hull not permit it? How can you put the latest engine if you can't integrate the whole system into it? If you want to change everything, it is better to build a new ship than to modify an old one.
And yet the Enterprise got a total modification between TOS and TMP for all the latest gizmos and dodads.
Also if it couldn't be refitted wouldn't they just scrap the ship or assign it to some boring area where they won't run into anything that could threaten them.
The second bold :
- Not everybody are the bravest men and women in the universe. Sometime they do it just because it is their job. And sometime their motivation is not about to explore the galaxy or face the danger.
Then why pick a job in Starfleet where exploring the galaxy and facing danger is part of said job.
Maybe they just do it because of financial reason, or maybe because of other things. And not everyone are ready to handle dangerous situation. And not every Starfleet officers are well trained and capable just like the crew of the Enterprise. You just see in the real world. Not US Soldiers are Navy Seal or Delta Force or Ranger.
US soliders aren't trained to deal with dangerous situations?
The first Bold :
Now let us use the real world example.
If the the US Air Force can upgrade the existing aircraft to the latest, why they even bother to spend a lot of money to develop F-35?
And now for why they are not scrap it, then what about US Air Force upgrade the existing F-16 and extend their service into 2020 or more?
And now about the Federation in Star Trek series. Why they bother to develop new classes if they can upgrade the existing class into a top notch Federation ship of the line? For example, why they even bother to phased out Constitution Class if they can be upgraded with the latest technology?
And then why they even bother to use old ships and extend their service into 24th century?
Now, let me ask a question to you, is a Miranda Class as capable as the latest Centaur or Steamrunner or Akira Class? or Is Excelsior as capable as Intrepid or Sovereign Class? If so, why they even bother to develop an Intrepid or Sovereign Class? If not, why they are not scrap the Excelsior class?
I think the reason is simple, because of the hull limitation so they develop new classes. Yet, because of the quantity reason that the production can't meet the demand so they still use and upgrade some old ship to do the job.
I mean, even if Federation's resource is abundant, they can't build 100 Constitution or Miranda Class suddenly to phase out their older ship. So they prolong the older ship life. Yet even with upgraded technology, it is the hull limitation that prevent the older ship like USS Not Important to be on par with Constitution or Miranda Class.
The question is why they bother to put this ship into danger, then the question is why they even bother to send a less capable freighter (which is even equipped with less weapon) to send cargoes to the frontier? I think send cargo to a science lab is not the job for the top notch Constitution or Miranda Class. They have another thing to do, like border patrol, exploring new worlds, etc, etc. So it is the job of a ship like USS Not Important to do more mundane duty. Yet, not all pirate is less capable than a Miranda or Constitution Class, and that make these guys can overpower the USS Not Important.
And guys, I don't even know of Firefly. It didn't even aired in my country.