Re: Galaxy Class Starships 20 years later, What changes Occu
I think post-Dominion war and with the Borg threat diminished, we'd be more likely to see civilians *back* on galaxy class starship, and perhaps even once the fleet is built back up, more Galaxies, or their replacements, used for deep space exploration again. (Some fans don't like the civy thing, but I think it makes sense for long duration deep-range missions to have a ship that is a "city in space". But then, many fans - if you look at the fanfic and fan designs) don't seem to like the whole exploration thing, and like the military aspects of Starfleet better. Too bad, IMHO.)
Likely Trek-Tech upgrades we'd see after the Galaxy's 20th B-day, in addition to the standard sensors and slightly faster, more efficient warp drive upgrades...
* Faster more powerful computers on par with the Sovereign class.
* Bio-neural gel packs.
* Multiphasic & regenerative shielding.
* Ablative armor.
* Borg-enhanced technology throughout the ship.
(Some version of that Borg armor Voyager had may be likely as *tested* out, as well ship components and hull sections that could regenerate. We'd also see Borg enhanced sensors connected to upgraded Astronmetrics and Stellar Cartography labs.)
* Quantum torpedoes. Perhaps a small number of those "Borq-buster" Transphasic (Multiphasic!?) torpedoes we saw at the end of Voyager.
* Micro-warp drive in saucer section. Borrowed from Prometheus class perhaps (which I think likely got ideas from the Defiant class).
* ^And also perhaps
* 2nd generation variable geometry warp field. (The 1701-E is said to have one.)
* Pulse phaser cannon. (Like whatever it was that the Defiant had.)
* Holo-emitters throughout the ship. An EMH mark 4. (Still have dedicated Holodecks, but now even crew cabin could have some holodeck features. (Though, gods forbid when some holographic monster starts running rampant through out he ship...)
* Emergency onboard site-to-site "personal emergency transporters". Not just "escape transporters", but perhaps
* In fact, replicators and transporters (and emitters) interconnected - ask the computer for a drink, it appears on the table next to you, etc...
* Cloaking technology. (Come on people, it's damn well time the Feds had this too - everyone else does. A phased cloak, I don't think *yet*...)
And perhaps, some sort of limited use experimental Slipstream/Transwarp drive.
And I don't see why we couldn't add a few robust Delta Flyer-Runabout ship that could cover a bigger area, detached from the main ship. They would really help in long exploration missions. Unlike Navy ships, as far as we know deep space vessels go out unescorted - silly, I'd rather send out a small fleet of one big ship plus 3-4 smaller escort vessels - a couple of Nova science ships, and Defiant type...one Akira or Steamrunner or New Orleans or Norway type-ship along. Maybe a USS Raven type-ship or "Insurrection" type-Scout ship. Maybe a Galaxy class can do it all itself, but a Intrepid class, I'd expect to see more as part of a small "exploration group" of some sort. But *certainly* a few robust Runabouts/Delta Flyer vessels would help augment an exploration mission of a Galaxy class ship!? But with all these Captian's Yachts, and "Waveriders" and Aeroshuttles and craft like the Argo shuttle - it's about time we started seeing some of these things get more use - or *any* use. And used like Runabouts and Delta Flyer would be the most likely, I think. (Again, I imagine some sort of 2nd generation Runabout/Delta Flyer hybrid. In fact, The Ent-E's shuttle in "Insurrection" was about Runabout sized, wasn't it..?)
Oh...
* And a new beach ball for the Cetacean lab.
ETA: And a mount for a changeble "mission pod" to hold extra sensors/weapons/cargo/etc - - of course that's make sense.)
