Flights, Subclasses, Types, & Versions

Flight

The version of a class that is intended to represent an evolution of the class as a whole. The ships within a flight may be new-builds or upgraded ships, but they represent the class when improved. When an individual ship receives new equipment as part of a refit or upgrade for the whole class or a portion of it, the ship's flight changes. The numbered flight (ex: Flt I, Flt IV, etc.) represents the totality of all changes to multiple ships having the same changes made. For example, when the Nelson class scout received the "emergency" refit to make encounters with the Klingons more survivable, it received updated shields, weaponry and propulsion systems. The original Nelsons were then considered to be Flight I, until they received the upgrade, making them Flight II. Sometimes, earlier ships do not progress sequentially through the flights, but may skip one to get refit to an even later one (ex: Flt I to Flt III). As a general rule, the class/subclass name will not change, as the lead ship will also receive the modification, though it may not be the first to do so. Also, while there may be new-builds at a later flight (ex: built as a Flt III), the new-builds are joined in the flight by modified ships.

Sub-class

The version of the class that differs in some important way, but not enough to warrant creating a whole new class, upgrading previous versions of the class to, or building all future (or just some) ships of the class to match. As a general rule, while the first modified ship usually gets the subclass name (ex: Sager subclass of Nelson), the term can also be used in parallel with Flights, especially if the lead class ship (ex: USS Nelson) is also scheduled (or expected) to receive the modification. If the new version is populated only by new-builds (and no modified ships), it will be a subclass and not receive a flight number. Exception: sometimes, the sub-class name will be set as the first production vessel (ex: USS Gagarin), rather than that of the prototype of that variance (ex: USS Oberth).

Type

The Memory Alpha website uses the term "type" to describe a class of ships in which the class name is unknown, applying the first known named ship as a stand-in (ex: Farragut-type). Here, on the SFC wiki, the term "type" references a mission class (ex: "frigate type") or the entirety of a class of ship (ex: "all of the Oberth type"), where "Oberth class" would mean to reference the original production run of the class, but excluding the related subclasses (such as Gagarin or Fermi subclasses).

Variant

The version of the class that usually differs so much from the original as to either change the overall mission for the entire class or to represent such a major evolution that the "parent" version is now considered outdated; this version will often take on the lead ship's name for the new class. A good example of this was the Paladin variant of the Nelson class: the Paladins had the extra warp nacelle and had a combat scout role completely removed from the science and exploration mission of the earlier Nelsons. While "subclass" may be used synonymously with "variant" (as is the case with the Paladin), flights are not applied, because of the change in the mission and radial structural differences.