| The USS Valkyrie is a newly commissioned Nova Class Science Vessel assigned to Starbase T'Plana-Hath as a replacement for the two Defiant Class ships used during the Dominion War. With the war over, starfleet is once again making a move towards more non-military roles, such as exploration. The Valkyrie has more facilities and is capable of a wider variety of mission types than the Defiant Class Escort. The Valkyerie is a short-range exploration vessel with a crew complement of 80 on eight decks. She was designed to replace the older Oberth Class ships which served starfleet for nearly a century. The Nova design was based on the Defiant Pathfinder vessel and shares many design elements with the Defiant Class. This ship was of the right size and shared the latest warp/hull field geometry and propulsion technology. Starfleet replaced the warp core with a far less powerful version, reducing the top speed to Warp 8. Running the same nacelle design at much lower power greatly extended the operating life of the warp coils, reducing the ships refit schedule and making it easier to operate. The heavy weaponry was also removed, creating extra space for sensor arrays and scientific labs. |
