Centaur

The Centaur-class is a class of escort built by the United Federation of Planets, and currently in service in Starfleet, as well as various member fleets. Designed during the Rodgers admiralty as a replacement for the venerable Miranda and Soyuz classes, despite significant improvements, the class was originally regarded as a costly and inefficient failure, as the improved capabilities relative to the Miranda class did not justify the cost increase, especially in strategic resources, and only a few were built prior to the 2307 A refit. However, the A and B refits, incorporating all-around advances in technology, gave them a niche as Starfleet's workhorse responder. All Starfleet Centaurs have received refits to the B standard, with upgrades to the A standard finally being phased out.

Some analysts speculate that the Rodgers Admiralty intended the class to receive improved equipment after launch; this is supported by the A standard's drastic performance boost within a decade of the class's launch, during the Kahurangi admiralty's years.

Only a few of the class were built prior to the 2307 A refit program, including the lead ships USS Centaur and Yukikaze. These two ships served during the Biophage campaign, fighting in the Battle of Kadesh in 2304. Centaur was destroyed in the battle.

Compared to the other major design project of the Rogers admiralty, the Ares-class battlecruiser, the Centaur-class proved a qualified success, though this represents an extremely low standard of comparison.

Centaur-A Class
The first refit to the Centaur class. Replaced in production by the second refit, the Centaur-B, though some ships have not yet been refit to the new standard.

The Centaur-A refit program, beginning in 2307, was very well-received, updating the Centaur design from the Rogers admiralty's original concept of a beefed-up combat escort designed to compete with the Constellation-class cruisers as a general support vessel, into a superior all-round generalist that bid fair to make the Constellations entirely obsolete.

The Centaur-A was fitted with a significantly more capable sensor package, a more rugged and dependable drive for long range cruising, and far greater multi-mission capability than the Mirandas of the previous generation, even after the latter were extensively refit in an attempt to remain competitive. While the Miranda-A was more cost-effective as a pure fighting vessel, it could not compete in other roles, including the critical "fleet scout" missions required even during wartime.

Despite a daunting demand for exotic materials and rare materials in construction, the light, lean-crewed design of the Centaur-A lent itself to mass production and manufacture by relatively low-budget member world fleets. This, combined with being a highly satisfactory all-round generalist within its weight class, resulted in an ambitious wave of Centaur-A production throughout the Federation, in both Starfleet and the member fleets, through the late 2300s and the 2310s.

Statistics
Refit Cost: 15br 15sr

Centaur-B Class
The second refit to the Centaur class. Notable for across the board improvement and impressive D improvement over the first refit, but at a significant refit cost, although new builds are slightly less expensive in special resources.

Statistics
Refit Cost: 30br 20sr