High Capacity  Deflector Shield System

Initiated as a destroyer counterpart to the Nebula, New Orleans and Galaxy classes, the Freedom class carried a 130 year old basic design into the 24th century.  The single nacelle concept had proven to be cost effective and versatile with the ships themselves standing up to their larger counterparts.  The Freedom's direct predecesssor, the Defender class was still in fleet production and played a key roll in the Federation Fleet.  Like the designs before her, the Freedom has a primary hull connected to a single nacelle by a neck section, this one being paper thin.  At the base of her neck are her two photon torpedo launchers.

The ship is about as long as if not a tad bit longer than the New Orleans class and shares the smaller primary hull design.  Unlike her ancestors, the Freedom is the first class carrying on the design heritage to feature a navigational deflector array which is featured as a small bulge on the underside of the saucer.