TYPE:	Defiant class escort vessel
LENGTH:	145m
SPEED:	Warp 9.55 (max)
MANOEUVRE:	StarFleet Impulse Engines MARA Warp Nacelles
CREW:	(Max) 80
GRAVITY:	Artificial
ARMOUR:	Ablative armour hullplating Enforced StarFleet deflector sheilds Romulan Cloaking Device
ARMAMENTS:	Twin fountain stream phaser cannons Type seven torpedo launchers (2 fore & 1 aft)
WARP DRIVE:	Standard Federation Warp core + 2 MARA Warp Nacelles

USS Defiant's history began after the USS Enterprise was hurled into system J-25 in the Delta Quadrant, where it encountered the Borg for the first time. The data that Enterprise collected on the Borg projected a grim shadow on the defense systems of the Federation. After the Enterprise presented its report on the capabilities of the Borg, Starfleet began a project to develop new technologies to combat the Borg threat. Design and research was nearing completion Stardate 43998.0, when the Borg invaded the Sol system. Unfortunately, the advancements made under Project Defiant were still only conceptual, with no working prototype at the time. Had production been completed, perhaps the incident at Wolf 359 could have been avoided. The Battle of Wolf 359 only clarified the need for better defensive weapons and sped up production. Less than one year after the Borg ship was destroyed, USS Defiant was completed in its secret construction facility at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Mars. The Defiant's weapons systems make it the most powerful warship in the Alpha Quadrant: twin fountain stream phaser cannons capable of destroying the shields of an enemy vessel and then devastating its hull, and new developments of photon torpedoes which remain classified. Added to these (and other classified systems), the Defiant is extremely maneuverable and quick -- the fastest sublight ship ever constructed. The Defiant is small and very automated, requiring a crew of 10-12, with a skeleton crew of only four. Not only is Defiant a technological marvel, it is also a diplomatic marvel -- the Federation was able to convince the Romulan Empire to fit it with a cloaking device. USS Defiant has now been stationed at Deep Space 9, under the command of Captain Benjamin Sisko, who was assigned to Defiant's enginnering team after his former ship, USS Saratoga NCC-31911, was lost at Wolf 359. Defiant currently is the only Federation ship assigned to explore the Gamma Quadrant. It is no longer the only ship of its class. (At the end of Trek episode "A Call To Arms", two other Defiant Class starships can be seen in formation with the fleet.) The advancements made during Project Defiant are currently being integrated into new ship class constructions which will see service in the next few years.

The Defiant Class of Starship was a hurried project that caused many divisions in the Advance Starship Design Bureau. The project at first officially labelled as the Valiant project, later changing to the Defiant project was briefed as a warship and twelve submitted designs were considered. Relative newcomer to the team, Dr. Tian Jezz was given the project after his unusual design provoked much interest. The ship itself, being small did not need the vast keel structure to hold it in place therefore they were built in the now infamous pod 13. This ship, the prototype vessel was designed for testing only. But then, the Dominion threat at Deep Space Nine got more serious and, under the temporary command of Commander Eddington, it was sent to help out there.