Next generation starship program

[Borgholio]

So about the only obvious major category of large freighter you might need would be mining vessels to extract the raw materials to support the replicator economy.

Actually now that you mention it, that could be why the Narada was so large...she WAS supposed to be a mining ship.

[Knife]

In a replicator economy where colonies are on planets with their own raw materials, trade or movement of freight just might be in either specialty goods and/or items that just can't be replicated not justifying large bulk freight. Or needs between colonies are so different, it's easier/cheaper to send smaller freighter ships out to individual colonies instead of one large ship making a circuit.

[Knife]

Actually, thinking about it, it seems in the shows it's either something akin to medical supplies the planet doesn't have and/or personnel that Starfleet delivers. Makes sense for customization delivery, don't want a bunch of personnel on a ship waiting weeks making a circuit around a trade route waiting for their stop.

[Simon_Jester]

So about the only obvious major category of large freighter you might need would be mining vessels to extract the raw materials to support the replicator economy.

Actually now that you mention it, that could be why the Narada was so large...she WAS supposed to be a mining ship.

It did occur to me that being a mining ship could maybe explain why the Narada had such a strange hullform- all those pylons and sticking-out bits that look like big vicious space tentacles are there so that you can rope cargo containers of ore and raw materials to them, forming secure networks of cables (or, this being Star Trek, force fields) around a huge volume of cargo. And then when you arrive at your destination, you simply switch off or remove the containment, your "cargo hold" vanishes in a matter of moments, and anyone trying to load or offload your ship has easy access.

[Lord Revan]

So about the only obvious major category of large freighter you might need would be mining vessels to extract the raw materials to support the replicator economy.

Actually now that you mention it, that could be why the Narada was so large...she WAS supposed to be a mining ship.

It did occur to me that being a mining ship could maybe explain why the Narada had such a strange hullform- all those pylons and sticking-out bits that look like big vicious space tentacles are there so that you can rope cargo containers of ore and raw materials to them, forming secure networks of cables (or, this being Star Trek, force fields) around a huge volume of cargo. And then when you arrive at your destination, you simply switch off or remove the containment, your "cargo hold" vanishes in a matter of moments, and anyone trying to load or offload your ship has easy access.

actually according to the comics Narada used to rather "normal" as far as Romulan ships go (no wings but the main hull had the same basic shape) but when Nero augmented it with borg tech it ended up looking like it does.

[Simon_Jester]

Ah. Well, it was a plausible explanation for why Narada might have been built in that configuration, even if the semi-canon removes any need for such an explanation. Given how ambitiously and frequently Star Trek uses force fields in general, I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see starships that use force fields for part of the 'hull,' especially parts that don't have to exist all the time.

[Tribble]

Sorry, what? The Narada had Borg-tech in it? How did he accomplish that?

[Lord Revan]

Sorry, what? The Narada had Borg-tech in it? How did he accomplish that?

The Tal Shiar had been experementing with borg tech and Nero was somehow able to get hold some of the tech to upgrade the Narada.

Sorry for the lack of details I've only read it from Memory alpha as I don't have the comics themselves.

[The Romulan Republic]

Even without the comics, the film heavily implies the use of Borg technology, what with Narada having a similar colour scheme/appearance to the Borg ships and weapons that go through shields.

[Prometheus Unbound]

There was nothing that suggested Borg, at all. No implications.

[Borgholio]

Yeah in the movie the ship just looked funky. It didn't look at all like a Borg ship to me.

[Simon_Jester]

Agreed, although this is a canon explanation, not just something made up recently. I remember people talking about it shortly after the movie came out.

[Batman]

How so? There's no mention of Borg tech in the movie, there's no easily identified as Borg tech on the ship, there's quite simply nothing saying the Narada used Borg technology. For all we know the Borg don't exist in the new continuity.

[Borgholio]

How so? There's no mention of Borg tech in the movie, there's no easily identified as Borg tech on the ship, there's quite simply nothing saying the Narada used Borg technology. For all we know the Borg don't exist in the new continuity.

There is a tie-in comic that tells what happened in the Prime universe just before the events of the movie. They tell that the Narada was upgraded with Borg tech prior to going back in time, and was heavily modified from it's stock configuration.

[Batman]

And the canonicity of that comic is?

[Prometheus Unbound]

0


The comics were written as a tie-in, but the film did not rely on them. They were written as a backstory after the script had been pretty set in stone.

The comics aren't canon and there is nothing in ST09 which implied borg or other alien tech. The reason the ship was so powerful was it was from nearly 150 years in the future. That's it.

Why it looked so daft, no idea. But my immediate reaction was not "oh that must be a borg modified ship".

[SpottedKitty]

Why it looked so daft, no idea. But my immediate reaction was not "oh that must be a borg modified ship".

Heh, my initial reaction was "If that's a Romulan ship, the designer must have been hitting the Romulan Ale a bit too hard"...

[The Romulan Republic]

How so? There's no mention of Borg tech in the movie, there's no easily identified as Borg tech on the ship, there's quite simply nothing saying the Narada used Borg technology. For all we know the Borg don't exist in the new continuity.

Their is the fact that the Narada's missiles go through shields. That doesn't automatically mean Borg tech., but it is something they're known for.

The shape was completely wrong for a Borg ship, of course, but their is something about the colour and texture that seems Borgish to me.

Still, its quite true that its not stated that Narada is using Borg technology in the film.

But I'd be very surprised if they don't eventually introduce the Borg into the new reality, if it lasts long enough. These are action movies they're making. A big, menacing enemy with giant, scary-looking super ships that can only be stopped militarily fits these films. And let's be honest- who doesn't want to see Kirk vs. the Borg?

[Borgholio]

Seeing as how everything is upsized in the New Trek, I wonder if the Borg will be upsized as well. A cube was big enough in the Prime universe, but in this one we'll probably be heading into "That's no moon..." territory.

[The Romulan Republic]

Possibly. They'd have to do something pretty drastic to surpass the last two hostile super ships.

Though for the new film, they seem to be going for the swarm approach rather than the one big ship approach, if the new trailer is any indication.

[Simon_Jester]

How so? There's no mention of Borg tech in the movie, there's no easily identified as Borg tech on the ship, there's quite simply nothing saying the Narada used Borg technology. For all we know the Borg don't exist in the new continuity.

Their is the fact that the Narada's missiles go through shields. That doesn't automatically mean Borg tech., but it is something they're known for.

I'm not so sure. The missiles go through Kelvin's shields, but that's an early 23rd-century ship against a late 24th-century ship. If we treat Enterprise as canonical or near-canonical, the Federation has only had shields for a bit under a century at the point of the attack on the Kelvin.

Whereas when the same cluster missile barrages are fired at Enterprise, the Connie manages to take a barrage with minimal or no hull damage. Since there's little or no evidence that the Constitutions have an armored hull capable of absorbing that kind of punishment, this suggests the shields at least survived the first bombardment. Granted that Sulu explicitly says "their weapons are powerful, we can't take another hit" or something like that... but the ship is structurally intact with no evidence of hull damage.

[The Romulan Republic]

Excuse me? Nero's one shot at them over Vulcan inflicted significant damage and killed the chief medical officer (hence McCoy taking over). Probably killed others as well. And yes, their's that line that they can't handle another shot.

[tezunegari]

Then there is the fact that the Narada destroyed a fleet of NINE federation ships within minutes...[*][/b] the only reason Enterprise wasn't victim no. 10 was Sulu's little "handbrake" problem. Which was solved within what, 2 Minutes at best?

Though those ships were most likely older ships with refits/upgrades at best.

[*] According to Memory-Alpha the destroyed ships were:

• USS Antares
• USS Armstrong
• USS Farragut
• USS Hood
• USS Mayflower
• USS Newton
• USS Odyssey
• USS Truman
• USS Wolcott

Ignoring novelization, otherwise the Mayflower was destroyed on its own before the Earth fleet arrived.

[biostem]

Then there is the fact that the Narada destroyed a fleet of NINE federation ships within minutes...[*][/b] the only reason Enterprise wasn't victim no. 10 was Sulu's little "handbrake" problem. Which was solved within what, 2 Minutes at best?

Though those ships were most likely older ships with refits/upgrades at best.

[*] According to Memory-Alpha the destroyed ships were:

• USS Antares
• USS Armstrong
• USS Farragut
• USS Hood
• USS Mayflower
• USS Newton
• USS Odyssey
• USS Truman
• USS Wolcott

Ignoring novelization, otherwise the Mayflower was destroyed on its own before the Earth fleet arrived.

The Narada is, what, 125 years ahead of the other ships? If you had a lot of resources and connections, how well could a refitted yacht or commercial vessel fare against some 1890's military vessels?

[Batman]

It could effortlessly cripple them from way outside their engagement range?