Guide:Kiaga/Agilis
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| Kiaga | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview | |
| Category | perimeter action ship |
| Operational | 2248-2294 |
| Constructed | 189 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length |
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| Beam |
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| Height |
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| Mass |
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| Performance | |
| Cruise Speed | w 5.0 |
| Max Speed | w 7.0 |
| Endurance | 1 year |
| Complement | |
| Officers | 7 |
| Enlisted |
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| Tactical Systems | |
| Beam Weapons |
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| Missile Weapons |
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| Shields |
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| Transporters |
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| Historical | |
| Ships of Note |
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| Canonicity | |
| Design | aridas sofia; Voyda McIntyre, The Entropy Effect; Timo |
| Name | SotSF |
| History | SotSF
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Background: Hobbyist's Guide
The open confrontation between UFP and Klingon forces at Axanar was a relief for Star Fleet in many ways. Not only had Federation ships prevailed in the psychologically decisive first clash, but the Federation itself was on a much more secure footing now. The dissolutionary movement lost its staunchest supporters overnight. The now unveiled face of the true enemy frightened the ranks into coherence and cooperation. However, the danger of secession was factually far from over. Some sensitive defensive technology had already fallen into Klingon hands at Axanar; moreover, it had been brought to bear on the Star Fleet forces sent to the system. Were worlds closer to the disputed Klingon borders to switch sides, dangerous gaps could be created in Federation defenses—and taking back these worlds would be all the harder if their system defenses changed ownership intact.
Shocked by the Axanari defection, the Councils of the UFP were quick to effect a major change in frontier defense doctrines. Instead of funding the construction of system fortresses and fixed-node sensor nets as had been done at the Romulan border, the Security Council now required Star Fleet to prepare a defense line under direct central command, and independent of local support and control. In practice, this meant gearing up all combat starship construction. Obvious problems of affordability prevented the acquisition of significantly increased numbers of cruisers or frigates, however. Yet how could smaller, shorter-range, lower-endurance ships hope to defend the borderlands?
Star Fleet could but try. Technologically, it would be quite possible to pack frigate armament into a ship half the size, by omitting virtually everything else from long range sensors to power coupling backups. Tactically, such a vessel would be purely an attrition unit, incapable of withstanding enemy pounding, but still able to deliver a few decisive punches of her own. Operationally, a combination of tender and courier vessels, carefully positioned forward resupply stations and deep space sensor platforms could keep the patrol combatant supplied with consumables and tactical data, without a need for planetary support. Strategically, a fleet of 200-300 such "perimeter action vessels" might be sufficient for securing the Eridani Gap, in the sense of being able to provide early warning and some delaying action in case of an invasion.
The questions faced by Star Fleet in 2246 were predominantly economic, however. Choices of engine type, propulsive performance requirements, torpedo magazine size, crew complement, or computing power were all matters of balance: the bottom line would be counted not in crews or ships lost or individual battles won, but in raw credits. Star Fleet could not afford to field a partially-complete defense of capable ships, to be expanded when budgets allowed, but had to introduce a complete defensive chain of fixed scope at one stroke. It took until November 2248 for the die to be cast. Out of four prototypes offered, the newly appointed Chief of Planetary Defenses Dahia al-Latif picked the Nylstroom Astris Schiffwerke proposal, PAX ‘48. Production immediately began under the class name Kiaga.
USS Kiaga (originally NX-820, eventually NCC-P820) took very literally the concept of being half a frigate. A five-deck saucer 66 meters across mounted two single torpedo launchers of the type used in pairs in the Loknar frigates, carried a single supercharged antimatter powerplant in a central longitudinal boom and was propelled by two 80,000 ton PB-38 engines in nacelles roughly half the length of the PB-31 capital ship units. Phaser firepower was closer to full Loknar Mk II standard, featuring six Type V emitters, and setting the Kiaga apart from the somewhat similar Procyon corvette. Total mass was slightly higher than that of the corvettes, mainly thanks to the different powerplant and heavier armament.
The nacelles were mounted close to ship centerplane, on slender pylons slanting down slightly from the dorsal engineering boom, thus creating a minimal frontal profile. Just as with the Chasseur, a wide separation resulted in significant warp maneuverability. To meet the high endurance requirements of the type, the PB-38 nacelle ramscoops were boosted by scooping coils on the sides of the engineering boom. The coils fed directly to primary stage plasma intake, just aft of the warp core, and were quite welcome in compensating for the disproportionately high fuel expenditure during the brief warp dashes that characterized perimeter ship operations. Farther astern on the boom was a single MHD tap to primary plasma, then the massive bulge of the shield generator.
Second-stage conduits doubled back along the upper surface of the boom, feeding primary hull systems. The main navigational deflector, intended to protect the ship on warp dashes, was housed in two bulges on dorsal hull forward quarters. For cruising, it was augmented by a triple-emitter, low signature auxiliary array at the bow. Passive sensors were spread out on hull surfaces, most active scanners clustered in a dome at hull lower vertex. A twin phaser bank on ventral bow was paired with a single emitter on the dorsal side; two further units fired aft from between the twin impulse assemblies on the primary hull trailing edge, and a single emitter was placed atop the engineering boom. Torpedo systems were mounted in lateral pods whose looks could be described as utilitarian or downright menacing. The magazines for twenty rounds each were housed inboard, however.
Amidst the high energy conduitry were squeezed 49 crew and their supplies and support systems for a one-year patrol sortie. The accommodation standards would have appalled a 22nd century observer, yet modern amenities eased the situation somewhat. Still, isolation was the keyword for perimeter ship crews. Communications silence was strictly maintained, as stealth was the only way these ships of limited propulsive power could hope to be within intercept range of Klingon units if and when they made a threatening move. Yet when the time came, the ships would have to be capable of coordinated aggression in decisive numbers.
These conflicting tactical imperatives could only be resolved by honing the group combat skills of a PA squadron to perfection and beyond. The clichéd comparison to a wolfpack would be a poor one in this case, as the intent of the squadron was not to wear down the enemy in vicious pursuit. Rather, the formation would stalk its prey with the patience of a lion pride: the individual vessels quietly seeking best possible pouncing positions, getting their cues from external sources via datalink, and only switching on their targeting scanners when moving in for a kill.
The first 35 Kiagas (NCC-820-854) were swiftly produced on a large number of dockyards, to a wide variety of standards resulting from the differing resources and methods of the yards. Concurrently, the sensor and control stations for the perimeter action system were erected on the Eridani Gap area and integrated to the existing sensor networks. Targeting data began to pour out in March, 2249, deliberately aimed to alert the Klingons to the existence of the new defense chain. Codes were allowed to leak across the border, and "orders" were given to dozens, later hundreds, of non-existing perimeter ships. The technique was successful especially because the distributed perimeter ship production was difficult to monitor by traditional Imperial Intelligence methods, and thus the nonexistence of a given ship was more difficult to prove.
The second (NCC-855-874), third (NCC-P875-P928 in a new scheme that was retroactively applied on the earlier registries as well) and fourth (NCC-P928-P1008) perimeter ship batches were all built to a common improved standard, featuring a stealthier primary hull and a more powerful D-2A onboard computer. Transporters were reduced in size and capacity, primarily to allow more torpedoes to be carried. Some of the second-stage plasma leads were redrawn after an explosion aboard USS Kaira (NCC-P831) killed two and shut down all power for nineteen harrowing hours until help could arrive. Numerous third batch vessels were equipped with SIGINT systems, and also took the calculated risk of carrying a two-way datalink as onboard processing power was lacking. The subclass name Agilis is often collectively used for these later production batches.
Total Kiaga production reached 189 vessels by 2257. By that time, relations with the Klingons had been through several ups and downs, but the general atmosphere was one of frustrated restraint. The concept of perimeter ships had never been properly put to test, as Klingon raids after Axanar had been uncoordinated and strategically aimless. It was not tactically sensible to expose the PA pack to deter a lone privateer or to block the return of a raiding party to Empire space. Ships built for attrition ended up suffering zero losses in the campaign. In retrospect, Star Fleet might have attained the same deterrence value by simply broadcasting "targeting data" to a wholly nonexistent perimeter fleet!
Operations against lesser adversaries gave the Kiagas a chance to gain combat merit, yet also brought forward problems inherent in their unique nature and narrow mission profile. By the end of the 2260s, most perimeter ships had been withdrawn to their support bases. Organian peace was not the only factor in the idling of the fleet—on the other side of the coin, expansion of Klingon forces and Klingon space had rendered the fleet of less than 200 units strategically impotent. The new bottom line for perimeter ships was written in red ink: further procurement of PA units was economically nonviable.
Idling of the perimeter fleet was as much a relief to Star Fleet as the Axanar showdown had been. Once again, the strategic situation was simplified and clarified. Sensor chains now extended across the Klingon borders, and modern starships had the speed and firepower to react flexibly to Klingon intrusions. The lack of fixed defensive installations or their perimeter ship mobile counterparts was no longer considered a shortcoming, as doctrines moved more and more towards fully mobile defenses.
The next two decades would again alter Star Fleet’s perceptions. From the viewpoint of the 2280s, the inability to support a perimeter fleet had been dismissed too lightly. Would the Xindi have been able to strike their claws so deep into the soft coreward flank of the UFP if there had been perimeter defenses in place? Could not their aggressions have been contained the same way the PA ships had done to the Tholian ones in the late fifties? Was the price truly not worth paying, when the red ink was made of humanoid blood?
Once the false lull of Organia was over, Kiaga and Agilis ships were pressed back to service. Technologically obsolete, they would be at greater risk than ever. Yet combined with over a hundred new PA ships, they could once again mount an effective tripwire defense, alerting the main fleets to Klingon incursions and slowing them down as much as possible.
In the end, the incursions never came. The Khitomer peace had the same effect as the Organian one, as far as border fleets were concerned: standing down from alert status meant withdrawing the PA ships to bases. This time, however, there would be no return to active service. The ships had been built for a single purpose only, and that purpose no longer existed in the new political situation. Lacking the relative versatility and multipurpose abilities of corvettes, or the high performance of the newer perimeter ships, the last Kiagas were scrapped in 2302, after two initiatives to refurbish them for service at the Romulan border were blocked.
Gallery
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External Sources
- Vintage Starships: "2249 – Kiaga": includes 3D viewer
Notes
- It's clear from the date of acceptance that the prototype was already built as of November 2248, so the production date—especially in this case—reflects the follow-on vessels.
- The class is presumed to be pressed back into service the year after the Organians' disappearance is confirmed.
- Consider alternate war paint schemes, per the image caption.
- Do all Kiaga ship names start with K? All Agilis with A? The later class (Akyazi, et al) have a lot more that start with A than do not, apparently.
References