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What is the in-setting lore reason for the Constitution-class being retired so early while the Miranda-class was kept around for roughly a century longer? (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I know the brand/studio reasons, but all I can come up with for in-setting lore reason is that Mirandas require less resources/crew/maintenance, but it still seems like a sharp contrast between the service lives of both ships where, as far as I can tell, the Excelsior-class may have required more resources/crew/maintenance and that judging by size and a history of jankiness alone (I love the ship, I really do, but it's still an in-setting thing) and even the Constellation seemed to be kept around at least a little longer than the Constitution.

Anyone got any sources about this that make it feel justified besides the studio/suits deciding "we don't want audiences to confuse anything on screen for the TMP refit" ?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I think looking at the ships' different roles may answer that question. The Miranda-class is a backline support and science platform, only called to the front during extreme circumstances (Wolf-359, Dominion War). They can be efficient at simple taskings like specific missions or supply runs. Like its successor, the California-class, they're also the mass produced, easy to build/repair workhorse type, so a simple, tested design just works over a longer life time.

Whereas the Constitution-class is a much larger, more complex, and line serving Heavy Cruiser. Presumably being on the frontline of exploration and military intervention, they have a higher need for the bleeding edge tech The Federation can field, especially with the fleet flagship USS Enterprise. Its unique hardware would also make it harder to repair and maintain which probably affected the lifespan of the class as a whole.

Like others said, it's most likely more sensible to do a full redesign whenever a new frontline or special class is called for instead of relying on retrofitting to keep up with enemy tech advances. Especially with core components like warp core upgrades, computing types (ie Galaxy-class moving to isolinear), or completely new tech like the Intrepid-class' bio-neural circuitry. That could maybe answer the shorter lifespan only lasting 1-2 retrofits before class charge (ie NCC-1701-A/B to the NCC-1701-C to the NCC-1701-D/E)