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Barracuda Class

Unlike other small starship types, the Newton class was based on a modular concept, so it was possible to reuse its components for the short-term development of a spin-off, the Barracuda-class scout ship. Such a ship type had become necessary to reinforce the patrol fleet along the Romulan Neutral Zone to provide increased vigilance after the Tomed Incident. While the warp core and warp nacelles remained substantially unchanged, the armament was significantly improved for the Barracuda's military assignment. The Barracuda class adds a torpedo launcher in the overhead equipment module and four more phaser arrays. Just like the later Nebula class, the Barracuda class mission module was planned to use easy swap-out compartments, in which the latest sensory devices could be installed when a Barracuda returned to port. For the time being, the module was taken from the Bolivar-class ships. It was intended to design a more advanced weapons pod for later ships of the Barracuda class, but only the ten originally ordered ships were built, rendering the idea of swapping out the modules uneconomic.

Four years later, the Blackbird class was introduced, which showed better maneuverability and firepower. While the two last ships, the USS Andes and USS Viking were rebuilt to Emden-class escorts, the remaining Barracuda ships were decommissioned in the early 2360's. Two Barracudas were scrapped, the other six stored in the Z11 Surplus Depot in the Benecia system. Four ships were temporarily reactivated to replace fighting ships needed on the front line during the Dominion War, but are now mothballed again.

Gallery

Preliminary three-view schematics
(ca. 1998)

Revised and more detailed version

Datasheet

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