Hunley class

General Specifications:
Length: 16.6m
Width: 19.3m
Height: 3.1m
Max Warp: 9.9 (burst speed 9.998)
Cruise: Warp 9.3
Max Impulse: 0.9975 lightspeed
Crew: 1 (trainer version has a second cockpit and no internal weapons bay.)

Armaments: Two phaser cannon of classified output, and one quantum torpedo of classified yield, carried in the internal weapons bay.

Type: Point Defense Fighter
 
About Ship: Between the recent Borg incursions and the Dominion war, Starfleet officials determined that the current generation of fighters is barely up to the task. Most fighters are armed with standard phasers, and very few were equipped to deliver photon torpedoes. The lack of a powerful standoff weapon suitable for fighter use was addressed with the invention of the Quantum torpedo.

After studying after-action reports for all incidents involving fighters over the last twenty years, the Advanced Starship Design Bureau issued a requirement for a short-duration (less than 30 hours) single-person vessel equipped with a quantum torpedo and one or more phaser cannon.

The Hunley is equipped with two phaser cannon, and carries a quantum torpedo for use against large/hard targets. The quantum torpedo is intended to be launched during a high-speed dash, eliminating the need for a bulky, power-hungry launch mechanism.

The Hunley's warp propulsion system is a slightly unconventional design, with its two nacelles suspended beneath the "wings". The Bussard collectors and intercoolers are not mounted on the nacelles, but in the leading and trailing edges of the wings, allowing more surface area than conventional nacelle-mounted systems. This is part of the reason the Hunley can achieve such a high dash speed. The wings allow better agility when operating in atmosphere, and allow some of the internal equipment to be positioned away from the centerline, providing greater internal space for the internal weapons bay. The Hunley's configuration is quite stealthy for a vessel its size, and is difficult to target while approaching (or departing from) a target, due both to it's small size when viewed from that angle, and to it's tremendous speed during an attack.

Several designs were considered, and Starfleet Command decided upon the Hunley. The Hunley isn't the most heavily-armed of the proposed vessels, nor is it the largest, but it consistently outperformed all of the other proposed designs in simulations.

The Hunley will replace several fighter designs currently in service, but will be phased in over time. Older fighters will be replaced with Hunleys as they are lost or reach the limits of their service life.