First look at Phase II Enterprise for...wait for it...Phase II

[GSchnitzer]

Hmm.. dunno about these nacelles this early in the life cycle of 1701.

That whole Decker countermanding Kirks phaser order in STTMP because phaser power was channelled from the new warp engines or something to that effect makes me think that 1701 had the same warp engines for the rest of Kirks 5 year mission.

I suppose there could have been intermediate design changes, but that doesn't feel right to me.

AG

Decker says:

"Sir, the Enterprise redesign
increases phaser power by
channeling it through the main
engines. When they went into
anti-matter imbalance, the
phasers were automatically cut
off."

We've taken the position that the warp engines are a new, improved model to replace the engines that get severely damaged in the upcoming episode "Blood and Fire." These new warp engines are the Phase II design, not The Motion Picture design--although they do look a bit similar. The engines will have to be upgraded again in a couple of years.

However, although the engines will be new, the phasers and phaser power circuitry are not being upgraded for Phase II. The new phaser system redesign that changes the phaser power circuitry and reroutes phaser power through the engines will happen in a couple of years from "now" when the Enterprise is brought back into drydock for the refit that happens after the Phase II adventures but before The Motion Picture. So, the phaser rerouting after that refit will indeed be a desgin change that's new to Kirk then.

Greg Schnitzer
Star Trek Phase II