

After facing overwhelming opposition from Obsidian Order forces deployed from the Orias system, Riker ultimately surrendered and the Defiant was returned to DS9. Although Dukat initially wanted to destroy the Defiant, he agreed to release the vessel and the Maquis crew to Starfleet custody in exchange for the Defiant's scans of the Orias system and Riker himself. Commander Sisko was forced to travel to Cardassia Prime with Gul Dukat to help track down the vessel. Later in 2371, Maquis operative Thomas Riker hijacked the Defiant and used it to attack several Cardassian targets. Despite its reportedly limited facilities for scientific analysis, the ship was able to work with the inhabitants of Meridian to analyze the nature of the unusual effect that caused the planet to shift between dimensions and devise a means of stabilizing the effect, with the result that Meridian's next manifestation on the corporeal plane would last for thirty years where it had currently only manifested for twelve days. The Defiant made contact with the planet Meridian during an exploration mission in the Gamma Quadrant. To ensure the Cardassians did not identify the ship, the vessel's shield harmonics were reconfigured to make the Defiant appear to be a Kobheerian freighter. When Major Kira was abducted by the Cardassian Union's Obsidian Order, Commander Sisko took the Defiant into Cardassian space in a rescue attempt. Several weeks later, the Defiant transported Lieutenant Jadzia Dax to the Trill homeworld to receive medical treatment. ( DS9: " The Search, Part II")ĭS9's chief of operations, Miles O'Brien, spent two weeks overhauling the Defiant's structural integrity field to overcome the ship's design flaws. Ultimately, the crew was discovered by Bajoran Militia officers Major Kira Nerys and Odo, and were allowed to return to DS9 with the Defiant. During a resulting battle, the vessel was boarded, and the senior officers were captured and placed into a simulation to test how Starfleet might react to the Dominion attempting to gain a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. Shortly after entering the Gamma Quadrant, the Defiant was attacked by several Jem'Hadar fighters. The mission did not go well for the DS9 crew. ( DS9: " The Search, Part I" Defiant dedication plaque) After a special amendment was made to the Treaty of Algeron, the Romulan Star Empire provided Sub-commander T'Rul and one of their cloaking devices to aid in its mission – in exchange for any intelligence gained on the Dominion. Arriving in early 2371, the Defiant's first assignment was to attempt to convince the Founders of the Dominion that the Federation posed no threat to them. The vessel was officially launched in 2370, on Stardate 47538.5, from the Antares Ship Yards. ( DS9: " The Search, Part I")Īfter the USS Odyssey was destroyed in late 2370, Commander Benjamin Sisko, who served on the team that designed the Defiant, requested that the vessel be pulled out of storage and assigned to Deep Space 9 to counter a new threat of the Dominion. Ultimately, these design flaws, combined with the Borg threat becoming less urgent, led Starfleet to the decision to abandon the project and place the prototype in storage.
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The vessel was overpowered and over-gunned for a ship of its size – so much so that the Defiant nearly shook itself apart when the engines were tested at full power.
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The Defiant did not perform well in its initial trial runs. The vessel featured minimal equipment for scientific research and was not designed to accommodate families. Officially classified as an escort vessel, the Defiant was nothing less than Starfleet's first design of a warship intended to combat the Borg. The Federation's devastating defeat in the Battle of Wolf 359, resulting in the loss of nearly 40 ships and 11,000 personnel to a single Borg vessel, proved that the Federation's defenses were horribly inadequate, and plans were spearheaded for the production of a more combat capable starship. Drafting plans for such a defense required a starship capable of fighting against the Borg. After initial and hostile first contact with the Borg, Starfleet did what it hadn't done in decades, place greater emphasis on Starfleet's essential role in the defense of the Federation. Development on the Defiant began around 2366 in response to the Borg threat to the Federation.
