Columbia Class

The Columbia class was a United Earth starship type borne of the NX-class cruiser. Following the formation of the Federation in 2161, the amalgamated Federation Starfleet began with the production of additional Columbia-class ships.

The Columbia-class was born out of the existing, and proven, NX-class design, and included retrofitted ships such as Enterprise and USS Endeavour. In 2156, Enterprise was the first vessel to receive the upgraded spaceframe. It was named, at the insistence of Admiral Jonathan Archer, after the first vessel of the NX-class to be lost in action, Columbia. As of September 2162, the refit Endeavour was the last active survivor of the NX-class. All future vessels would be of the new Columbia-class.

As part of newly appointed UESPA Chief of Staff Admiral Archer's fleet modernization program, eight new Columbia-class vessels were slated for construction. By July of 2165, USS Buran and USS Shenlong were completed, USS Apolloand USS Soyuz were expected to launch around October of the same year, USS Ares and USS Charybdis in spring of 2166 and USS Phoenix and USS Valiant by 2167.

Design
The most noticeable difference between the NX and Columbia classes was the addition of a secondary hull which was slung underneath the saucer section. This new hull had a deep rear undercut allowing it to be positioned in the warp field's secondary node while in flight and a more powerful, circular navigational deflector. It also housed the new, larger warp core which allowed speeds in excess of warp factor six. The extra room liberated in the primary hull by the removal of warp engineering allowed for larger senior officers' quarters.

The dorsal connector to the saucer was located where the NX's main shuttlebay used to be, so the shuttlepod drop bays were moved to either side of it.

Technology
As well as polarized hull plating, the Columbia-class featured deflector shields of Andorian design. For a while after the class was brought into service, use of the shields while at warp necessitated an adjustment of the warp field. This adjustment, due to difficulties in reconciling Human and Andorian technology, meant that warp speed was limited to just over warp factor three.

The class was also equipped with a tractor beam of Vulcan origin, but the Andorian shields distorted the targeting system. However all compatibility issues were solved in 2163 by Doctor Tobin Dax and his engineering team.

The newly built ships were upgraded with more advanced impulse assemblies and navigational deflectors manufactured by the Rigel based Grennex Aerospace shipbuilding company.