Federation attack fighter

The Federation attack fighter was a type of starship employed by Starfleet as an attack fighter during the Dominion War. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels")

History

The Maquis appropriated several of these ships and used them as attack fighters during their insurrection against the Cardassian Union. Prior to 2370 these ships were civilian Federation support couriers not used by Starfleet. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II"; TNG: "Preemptive Strike")

Large numbers of these ships were used by Starfleet in the Dominion War. During Operation Return, eight successive waves of fighters were sent to attack the Cardassian ships of a Dominion fleet, hoping to provoke them into breaking formation and creating an opening for the Federation fleet. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels")

This ship type was also used as an Academy flight trainer by Starfleet Academy. (VOY: "Drone", "The Voyager Conspiracy", "Life Line")

Tactical systems

The attack fighter was capable of carrying an impressive arsenal. When used by Starfleet in 2374, the ships had several forward torpedo launchers and at least one phaser bank with two forward emitters.

When used by the Maquis in 2370, the fighters were armed with what weapons were available. Pygorian weapons, including photon torpedoes, pulse cannons, ship-mounted high-energy disruptors and particle accelerators, were among the weapons used when an attack was planned at a weapons depot on the Bryma Colony. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II")

Captain Keogh referred to these two vessels as "lightly armed shuttlecrafts," compared to the Dominion ships he expected to face. (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar")

Later in 2370, according to Gul Evek, the Maquis attacking his ship were armed with photon torpedoes and type 8 phasers acquired from an unknown source. (TNG: "Preemptive Strike")

Appendices

Appearances

• TNG: "Preemptive Strike"
• DS9:
  • "The Maquis, Part II"
  • "A Time to Stand"
  • "Favor the Bold"
  • "Sacrifice of Angels"
  • "What You Leave Behind"
• VOY:
  • "Drone"
  • "The Voyager Conspiracy"
  • "Life Line"

Background information

The fighter cockpit interior, seen in "The Maquis, Part II", was a modification of the Type 15 shuttlepod set. It was reused later from DS9: "The Search, Part I" onwards to represent the Type 18 shuttlepod cockpit.

In the script of "The Maquis, Part II", the phasers used by the Maquis attack fighter are identified as the pulse cannons mentioned earlier in dialogue. [1] The initial phaser blasts in the episode however seems like regular phaser fire from the extended bank under the ships nose. Photon torpedoes are seen fired from the tube at the nose of the ship. When the torpedo tubes are damaged the fighter opens fire with pulse cannon phasers from two wing mounted banks that are not visible on the model.

Visual effects in "Preemptive Strike" show phaser fire pulses coming from the wings, where there are three visible tubes on each wing. Phaser fire is also seen coming from the front ends of the embedded warp nacelles. These banks seem to be targetable instead of firing straight ahead like the Pygorian pulse cannons in "The Maquis, Part II".

The script of "Sacrifice of Angels" states that the attack fighters were firing a barrage of quantum torpedoes when attacking the Dominion lines. [2] The effects used for the phasers and quantum torpedoes of the fighters in this episode were however not what is normally associated with these Starfleet weapons. The torpedo launchers were mounted on the wings and on the nose of the ship. In some shots the wing torpedoes seem to be launched from the same spot where the pulse cannons were located in "The Maquis, Part II" and in others they seem to be coming from the three small visible tubes on each of the wings. These tubes would seem to be much too small to launch full sized torpedoes.

In one shot, in "Sacrifice of Angels", one of the fighters is seen firing a bluish white beam from the one of the two forward phaser emitters on the extended phaser bank under the nose of the ship. When a fighter fired the phaser from the same location in "What You Leave Behind" the regular Starfleet phaser effect was used.

Apocrypha

According to Star Trek Online, the Peregrine-class mentioned, but not seen, in DS9: "Heart of Stone" was the class name for this ship type.

Terran Raider

The Terran raider was a type of small craft used by the Terran Rebellion in the mirror universe against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. The ships were equipped with warp drive and armed with at least one phaser.

Most of the rebellion's raiders were destroyed during the battle to capture Terok Nor, but Julian Bashir and Jadzia Dax took one of the remaining ships and managed to delay an incoming Alliance fleet long enough to allow the other rebels to complete construction of a new warship, the ISS Defiant. Bashir's raider returned to join the Battle of Terok Nor, and helped cause serious damage to the Regent's flagship. (DS9: "Shattered Mirror")

Triva

The Terran raider appeared visually identical to the Federation attack fighter except for the cockpit interior, which was a redress of the Danube-class runabout cockpit interior.