Type:

System Defense Craft

Commissioned:

2270 - 2293

Dimensions:

Length:

245 m

Beam:

150 m

Height:

63 m

Decks:

18 excluding nacelles

Mass:

310,000 tons

Crew:

130

Armament:

4 x Type VII Phaser banks

18 x Type VI Phaser banks, total output 22,500 TeraWatts

Defense Systems:

Shield system, total capacity 540,000 TeraWatts

Standard Duranium single hull

Standard level Structural Integrity Field

Warp Speeds:

Normal Cruise: Warp 5

(TNG Scale)

Maximum Cruise: Warp 6

Maximum Rated: Warp 8 for one hour

Strength Indices:

Beam Firepower: 450

(Galaxy Class = 1000)

Torpedo Firepower: 0

Weapon Range & Accuracy: 50

Shield Strength: 200

Hull Armor: 10

Speed: 540

Combat Maneuverability: 12000

Overall Strength Index: 230

Diplomatic Capability:

Grade 3

Expected Hull Life:

50 years

Refit Cycle:

Minor: 5 years

Standard: 15 years

Major: 30 years

Added Features:

In the late 2260's the Federations outermost colony worlds began to suffer significantly at the hands of raiding parties. Some of these were the usual mix of mercenaries and criminals, but at least some of the most serious attacks were strongly suspected to have been carried out by Klingon forces eager to test themselves against Federation targets

In response, Starfleet deployed extra Starship assets to the colony worlds, but this was never going to be a practical proposition; many of these worlds had populations in the thousands, and it was simply not worth keeping even one Starship in a system to protect such a target. Starfleet wanted to produce a new class of ship for colony defense, but the resources to set up a new production line were simply not available. The Soyuz class was fielded as a compromise solution. By basing the ship on the already successful Miranda class Starfleet avoided much of the design and set-up costs, while a pool of personnel familiar with the design already existed

The basic Miranda design was modified in order to make the Soyuz as easy to build as possible. The colony defense role called for the ship to be based in one system for long periods of time, rather than conducting extended patrols; any combat would likely be at impulse speed and would take place within a single system also. The typical raiding party would be equipped with relatively light weapons and defenses, but the Soyuz would need to have a considerable reserve of offensive firepower to deal with Klingon opponents. Starfleet decided to delete the roll bar mounted photon torpedo pod from the design and replace it with a pair of turrets mounting twin heavy phasers; this would provide excellent firepower at close range while allowing the complex systems and personnel associated with long range torpedoes to be removed

Other measures to reduce the cost of the Soyuz included reducing the overload capacity of the engines so that Warp 8 could only be held for one hour, rather than the twelve hours of the standard Miranda. The diplomatic facilities reduced from Grade 4 to Grade 3, and the scientific facilities were eliminated. On the other hand, at a late stage of the design it was decided to add several long range sensor pods to the ships hull. This was intended to give the Soyuz a good degree of early warning capability against incoming raiders, and to allow them to act as traffic control centers for the space around a colony