Aegis Ship Design Considerations

[Joy 0]

Subject : Aegis Ship Design Considerations

From : Ambassador Joy Two

To : Ambassador Drankum; Commander Chirakis; Centurion Johrel; Damian Porter

 

 

In a recent visit to the CT, a question was raised as to how to name the new class of ship to be built at Aegis. The suggestions proposed by Ambassador Drankum seemed to center on military and economic values. It was implied that the ships should be both deadly and profitable.

 

I am not sure if the name is the first concern that might be answered. Thus, I shall attempt to put on the table other questions. Depending on how these are answered, an appropriate name might follows.

 

How large are the ships to be? Light cruisers might be appropriate for frontier patrol, for chasing pirates, deterring raids and escorting merchants. Something heavier would be appropriate to stand in line of battle against the Breen or Borg. Some of the names suggested something very much larger, more like a Borg Cube in size than a traditional ship of any of the Aegis powers.

 

What is the schedule? Utopia Planitia generally takes ten years from conception of a new class of ships to first commissioning. This is with experienced professional designers and fully equipped facilities. This time could be vastly reduced by selecting and producing an existing ship design. This time could be increased by selecting a highly unusual design.

 

Are we producing a balanced ship, or slanting towards an individual culture’s values? Ambassador Drankum’s repeated mention of profits suggests large cargo holds, a nudge away from a pure warship towards the Ferengi armed merchant approach. Federation designs traditionally emphasize science labs and crew amenities that allow extended deployments. Klingon designs focus on pure military capability. What balance might we consider?

 

How ambitious are we intending to be in building a fleet? The Breen and Borg are major powers. They control many worlds with populations in the billions. We are a single station. It does not seem reasonable to suggest that Aegis will be able to out produce a major power. Thus, our schedule should not consider just how soon we might produce a first ship, but how many building docks we intend to build, and how much time per ship per dock. We should set a practical achievable goal.

 

How do we intend to handle manpower? The Federation traditionally operates on one 8 hour shift per 24 hour day. If there is a clear need this time can be increased in the short term, for days or weeks. Extending double shifts out to months and years is generally not productive. Morale and efficiency fail. We have been double shifting since our arrival, and I am already seeing symptoms of crew performance faltering. I do not believe we should attempt to out produce major powers purely through use of double shifting personnel that already have a normal work load.

 

In any large engineering project, there is a trade off between ‘quality control’ and ‘rapid prototyping.’ Does one do extensive reviews at each point of the design, and test every new component as it is built? Many will say do the reviews and tests, as the sooner a problem is found, the cheaper and quicker it is to fix. ‘Rapid prototyping’ is sometimes attempted when it is thought that schedule and cost considerations exclude the possibility of “doing things right.” Rapid prototyping is a gamble. One can often shorten a schedule, but there is also a chance of blowing the schedule beyond redemption. The first few ships off the line might also tend to be highly temperamental. The Defiant class might stand as an example.

 

Are we intending to finance for profit, or build to government funding? The Federation maintains a myth of being a cashless society. If this were a pure Federation project, if we convinced appropriate agencies that the yard is to the common good, we could expect a free flow of resources with sufficient oversight for assurances that the resources aren’t being wasted. If, on the other hand, if the resulting ships were to be sold for profit, the Federation government would become a funding sync just as bottomless as it is a funding source. One does not gain profit out of projects based upon Federation funding. If the intent is to profit, it may be desirable to spin off a private corporation which sells ships. We might consider structuring the yard along a Ferengi capitalist model rather than keeping it as part of a military organization.

 

I would anticipate much political debate far away in the core of the Federation. The member planets, after the Dominion War, are not in a mood to fund militarism just now. The shipyards are operating at a fraction of their full capacity. The shipyards will not be pleased at government agencies taking over the ship building function that has traditionally been their business. For the most part the resulting hue and cry will be far away. It should not effect us much here. However, building ships based on Federation designs will involve use of intellectual property belonging to shipyards which will not be overly pleased with our taking their business. It might be that their cooperation will not be total. It might be prudent, if we decide to spin off the yard as a for profit private corporation, that the corporation might be at least partially owned by an existing entity such as Planitia Utopia or the San Francisco Yards. In addition to easing political friction and allowing clean access to intellectual property, they might provide considerable expertise required to quickly and profitably set up the yard.

 

I have several ideas on how we might wish to proceed. If the ship is to be built to Ferengi values, we might consider building Ferengi design ships. If the ships are to be profitable, they need cargo holds. This will make them less than ideal as pure warships, but the Ferengi designs are intended to cover their own building and operating costs while still being useful as a defense when necessary. Depending on the amount of funding coming from the participating partners, Ferengi designs might be proper for a frontier environment.

 

On the downside, Ferengi ships might not be the ideal choice if one is attempting to swarm a Borg cube. Large cargo holds imply larger areas for warp and shield fields. Ferengi designs are a compromise between profitability and combat effectiveness. If the primary intent is combat effectiveness, we might not wish to start out with an intent to compromise.

 

Alternately, we might wish to find the most appropriate Romulan or Federation design and replicate it with minimal changes, thus eliminating the risks and delays inherent in a new design.

 

Regardless, I think it important to develop an overall plan. How many ships of what type and on what schedule are we intending to build?

 

 

Ambassador Joy Two