Editing Defiant Class (section)

==THE WARHEAD==

With the addition of the warhead component aboard the Defiant-class, yet another radical departure has been made from Starfleet's standard policy concerning tactical operations.  Designed as a single-use last-ditch explosive component, usage of the warhead weighs as heavily upon a ship's commanding officer as the possible order to initiate self-destruct.  

Housed at the forward-most portion of the ship, the warhead contains the ship's main navigational deflector, forward torpedo launcher and magazine, forward airlocks, and dedicated impulse engines for independent powered flight.  Access to this area is provided by two walkways on Decks 2 and 3 where miniaturized versions of the standard airlock provided sealable entry between the main vehicle and the warhead.  Interior movement within the pod is provided by two ladders that run between decks.  A dedicated control room is located on Deck 2 and allows for both user operated and automatic control of the Warhead.

Typically used when the vessel is totally disabled, it should be noted that once the warhead is launched it cannot be reattached to its parent craft without the assistance of a space station equipped to handle small starships.  Once the order is given, the Warhead section is detached from the parent spaceframe by means of four explosive bolts that serve to provide the initial forward momentum for the pod to leave the ship before engaging its own engines. EPS power distribution lines and ODN hard lines between the two craft are designed to break apart at key points during the separation, and the EPS flow is cut off upstream to prevent spill-off. Once free from its parent, the warhead is capable of achieving .8 c and automatically arms all remaining torpedoes present in the launcher storage area. Computer projections indicate that the entire warhead vehicle will be destroyed in the resulting collision between it and its target. Due to space restrictions, no escape pods are present in the warhead section, meaning any crewmembers aboard tending to the vehicle will perish in the resulting explosion

Without its main deflector dish, the Defiant-class vessel is unable to engage at high warp.  However, the three remaining defensive shield generators, under computer simulations, have been shown to be able to sufficiently shield the vessel at low warp speeds in the event of an escape after the warhead has been separated.  These generators are also capable of shielding the ship after the forward generator is lost once the warhead separates.

[[image:uglysight.jpg|thumb|left|'''Now that’s an ugly sight to have coming for you!''']]