Category:Active Scout Classes

This category lists the currently active scout classes.

Guide Definition

Scout

A small to medium, fast research and reconnaissance starship. Features medium phaser armament and extensive sensor and research gear, with optional shuttlecraft facilities. Typically omits or downplays torpedo armament, but may feature dedicated probe launchers.
Until the Romulan war, applied mainly to small military reconnaissance craft or ships with high speed and minimal armament or shielding. Between the founding of the UFP and the early 24th century, applied to a wide variety of vessels, including small one-or two-man reconnaissance craft, science platforms, military sensor picket and fleet coordination platforms, and small and medium, slow and fast starships in a highly inconsistent manner.
Designation finally refined in 2324 to the current form, with lightly armed, slow pure science platforms now designated surveyors. Small reconnaissance craft are known as scoutcraft. The role of dedicated military sensor and coordination ships has all but disappeared in the 24th century.
Older scout classes include e.g. Placido, Podish, Hale, Bode, Sawyer and Archer. More modern ships under scout designation include Merced, Zodiac and Andromeda. Numerous adaptations of other starship classes or designs (especially destroyers and frigates) have also served as scoutships, and include e.g. Tuverlind, Hermes, Nelson, Amerind and Newton.

Game Definition

Scouts are a historically-confused classification of vessel, due to their varied body styles and mission roles. Scouts are always a mission class used by civilian authorities to describe a small, limited-crew vessel used to look for resources, conduct specific mapping actions or look for certain vessels or persons in a non-obvious manner. Starfleet, however, has off and on used the word 'scout' as a classification of a certain type of vessel or mission area. While the formally designated scouts could be called light frigates when employed as a remote enemy detection platform, Starfleet has also been known to commission the much smaller civilian variety for traditional scientific rolls or contract existing civilian ships to do the same. However, when referring to a specific vessel classification, scouts fell out of favor with Starfleet around the 2280 era, seeing traditional frigates perform that same roll in greater and greater numbers. Later, in the mid-24th century onwards, small scout ships (such as the Aerie class) were commissioned by Starfleet and provided to Deep Space stations to casually explore the nearby regions or contracted out to civilian scientific crews for targeted explorations. In summary, depending on the era concerned, active scout classes may be very light and independently operating combatants or small, lightly-armed scientific explorers.

For the purposes of the game, the term 'scout' will be used in the non-combatant nature, usually referring to very small, specialized ships not intended for long-duration science missions, like those of the surveyor category.