Miranda-A

The first refit to the Miranda-class. A small number of them were new-built for the Gabriel Campaign.

The 2314 refit program to the aging, 2270s-vintage Miranda-class escorts focused largely on allowing the class to remain relevant in a 24th-century battlespace. The original design, whose protection scheme was meant mainly to resist the light weapons fire of Klingon Bird of Prey swarms, simply lacked the durability to survive combat against larger, more heavily armed opponents. Despite the class's remarkable firepower, it proved less than satisfactory in action during the Biophage campaign, and the lack of sensors and structural integrity were judged to be related to the loss or near-loss of a number of Mirandas to various causes.

This gave rise to the refit program, which focused mainly on a dramatic boost to the newly designated frigates' survivability, plating the entire hull in an additional layer of protective armor and installing uprated shield generators. Moreover, the sensor systems attached to the class's "rollbar" multi-mission hardpoints were considerably upgraded; many ships had previously been using sensor systems that predated the Genesis incident.

However, nothing could be done for the limited ability of the Mirandas, with their relatively diminutive warp cores and lack of engineering space, to engage in long-range, high-speed cruising. Furthermore, the internal accommodations, already spartan and lacking in amenities, grew if anything more so from the refit.

Despite this, the 2314 refit significantly extended the viability of what was rapidly becoming an obsolescent ship class, turning them into viable (if still somewhat vulnerable) combat-support vessels. This was also a considerable relief to the member world fleets of the "Core Four," who had quite a number of Mirandas in service from their buildup in the 2290s and earlier. In action the Miranda-A served as a "warm body"; attracting some fire away from more valuable vessels (but hopefully not enough to destroy it) while contributing its own weapons to the fight. They were largely successful in this role, and even those Mirandas lost in action frequently achieved some measure of victory just by the fact shots were used on them rather than the Excelsiors or cruisers they were supporting.

As of the early 2320s, the Mirandas are severely outclassed by recent improvements in frigate designs such as the Centaur-B refit program and the upcoming Comet-class general-purpose frigates. However Starfleet Tactical is a fierce defender of the design, as they are sufficiently numerous and capable to form the backbone of Federation convoy service in time of war, and it is likely another refit program for the class to keep them viable in this role will be pursued.

Refit Cost: 20br 10sr