No. You're right. I just wanted to have a little more firepower along for the ride with the Derf class tender. I suppose I could have just used two warp-capable starships, but I imagined Derf missions being of the overworked and underpaid, as it were, and a fairly recluse, lone-style. I thought that the best it could do in a troubled spot was to take along a sublight monitor from somewhere nearby, at least for the battle.
It has the general silhouette, but other that no. I would however agree that it would be good and serviceable addition to the fleet.
On the need for smaller ships to counter the gem 'hadar fighters.... Examples of classes we saw take on the Bug ships: 1. Centaur class. I see this as an old design, taken out of mothballs and upgraded. 2. Defiant class. 3. Norway class. In "Squadron" this design didn't seem to be much larger than the bug ships. A destroyer, then?
The only "Starfleet" design that is a similar length to the Jem'hadar bug is the Federation Raider (aka Chakotay's ship) (est 60-70m), although the main hull of the Oberth-class (the usable volume) is similar. Nova, Defiant & Saber-classes are the smallest ships with at least limited combat credentials active during the period (est 150-200m in length) as escorts/scouts. Norway and Centaur-classes are about half-between the Miranda and Nebula-classes in terms of size and seem more like frigate or modern destroyer, rather than the smaller WWII era type of destroyer/convoy escort that the Defiant and similar correspond to.
Depending on if you choose to scale the Centaur by its Reliant bridge dome as on the filming model (as opposed to the Eaglemoss CGI model which uses the regular Excelsior bridge), then the ship is smaller than a Miranda class starship.
Not exactly a surprise that there's some inconsistency. I went by the figures from DITL.org which uses the figures from the DS9:TM (which suggests ~382m), whereas the Eaglemoss model appears to be ~210m per the magazine cover. The Norway is either ~365m per both sources. The Miranda is either 233 to 235m (physical model) or 167 to 187m (CGI model) according BTS sources, although various licenced publications assert anything from 243 to 259m with DITL choosing the largest for no apparent reason.
Several of the ship lengths in the DS9 Tech Manual are wrong. And the section on the Centaur (or ‘Excelsior variant 3’) just uses a kitbash diagram of a standard Excelsior saucer and nacelles, without any of the additions the Centaur had, especially the bridge dome which is the primary means of determining scale.
Cheyenne class. I like the idea of an embassy equipped with warp drive. Even if confined to Federation space, I think such might be helpful in holding together a multi-species political organization. I imagine the Cheyenne being designed as a Lite Explorer, but proving to be a disappointment in that role. But finding success in a new role, after a refit.
Multi-species embassy? Are you thinking this version? Roomier. Honestly with better nacelles a flipped forward main shuttle bay, and maybe a deflector array at the lower connection point of the neck and pylons, that could really work. Maybe a pearlescent Federation flag blue overall paint job?
Reminds me of John Payne's USS Grand Alliance – a Galaxy-class-derived "fast diplomatic transport". Lightly armed but built for both speed and endurance, she can ferry up to 500 diplomats around in secure luxury. (Also – yes, the primary shuttle bay is big.)
Vale, I modified your images into links since they were hotlinked from Forbin's site. You're welcome to upload them to a free image host and repost them that way, if you wish.
In my memory, I conflated this design with a detail from a stock Galaxy model built as a Federation presidential flagship, gold-plated phaser banks. Ever since I read that description, I thought the gold burning off if the phasers were actually fired would've been a neat effect.