Renaissance

The first new cruiser design since the Constellation was developed, and Starfleet's first keel-up shipbuilding project of the 2300s, the Renaissance design represents both the best qualities of Federation shipbuilding and a somewhat ugly concession to military realities. Like the Constitution-B it was developed in direct response to the Cardassian Jaldun, and is somewhat more of a fighting ship than the Federation Council might desire. In particular its science suite and its diplomatic facilities, while adequate, are no better than most frigates. The primary reason for this is the small size of the ship, with 1mt selected for strategic reasons given the number of berths of that size.

As a fighting ship the Renaissance is slightly less capable than a stock Excelsior, using fewer resources and less crew. It is outclassed by the Cardassian upgraded cruisers, but more than a match for a stock Jaldun. While participating in relatively few combat actions, they have acquitted themselves well. The Renaissance has been exported to trusted Federation allies on occasion; the original Caldonian model was the result of such a gift, and the Laio have similarly been given assistance in building one. It has also proved relatively popular with the member fleets, providing a credible "flagship" without the expense and crew demands of a larger vessel for smaller fleets, and a good blend of cost, crew, and combat ability for those who face an unsettled border. For the ship design bureau itself, the Renaissance project was in many ways a dry run of the development of the Ambassador project. The technology base of both ships was very similar, and although the Ambassador ended up clocking in at three times the weight of the Renaissance, it nonetheless proved a test bed of new Microfilament Truss frame construction techniques, new Modulated Graviton Beam Deflectors, and Mk V structural integrity systems.

Two variants of the Renaissance are currently entering service. One, dubbed the "Vanguard" refit, continues in the tradition of the Renaissance as a fighting cruiser. The other, the "Envoy" refit, is a dedicated diplomatic vessel.

Warp Core
The Renaissance-class is powered principally by 40 Eridani A design group's Type-I warp core in a horizontal-mount system. This warp core was an experimental development in an effort to produce as high a power-to-weight ratio as could be safely managed. This design was not expected to go into full production, but the accelerated development of the Renaissance to deal with the threat posed by Cardassian cruiser designs pushed it into service. It is now produced by the Sar Alpha Warp Core Assembly plant, deep in Federation heartlands.

A highly efficient Luna-V M/AM injection system continues the focus on power-to-weight ratio. This system is designed by Luna Commune, a research outpost on Sol III's moon that works closely with Yoyodyne, and is produced in a facility at Ord Grind Duk. The SDB-VII is an internal Starfleet design, with components and coolant produced in the Yoyodyne Assembly Plant in the Andor System. The manifolds are a mix of in situ production, with specialised components of the HIG-103 system produced by Tellar HIG in the Tellar system. This pulsed-manifold delivers 120hz, six-phase electro-plasma delivery.

Impulse
An SDB-97 impulse drive system is employed in the Renaissance. This 33,000 ton triple-ducted system has been rigged for high sublight power, allowing for rapid throttling and vectoring changes. They are linked to a single battery of four fusion plants that operate a separate plasma trunk. The battery is in the saucer section, half-way between the bridge and the trailing edge. This impulse engine is produced in a separate Yoyodyne facility at Ranford III, the Blue Light Impulse Plant.

Nacelles
A twin-nacelle system is employed, consisting of mid-weight Standard 2305 Cruiser Pattern nacelles. Like almost all nacelles in Starfleet use, the warp coils for the Renaissance are produced at the Yoyodyne Assembly Plant in Andor. This nacelle system employs a very efficient, but maintenance heavy, 8,000 ton warp matrix, based around a quadruple-chamber plasma conditioner and a eight-valve distribution system. The verterium-cortanide warp coils are Yoyodyne-XII patterns, the same employed in the much larger Ambassadors.

Deflectors
The Renaissance employs the Mk-IV-E tactical deflector shield system. This is nominally a frigate system, but with the Renaissance being only marginally larger than a Centaur, this is not a major difference. However, the Renaissance employs far more of the deflector systems than does the Centaur-A, utilising seven full-size systems, and nine backup units. These components are made by Andor Shield Systems, and are distributed four to the saucer section (at the front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right corners), and three to the secondary hull (adjacent to either nacelle pylon, and the other ventrally).

Sensors
The sensors employed on the Renaissance are more venerable Mk V Navigational Sensors and twin Mk IV Lateral Sensor arrays for short-range work. Like a few other ships, rather than employing a dedicated long-range sensor array, the navigational sensor pulls double-duty, utilising the powerful Modulated Graviton Beam Deflector dish and considerable software support to provide adequate sensor clarity. The Mk V sensors are mounted at the ventral apex of the saucer section, where it is able to best interact with the deflector dish. The Mk-IV SR sensors are mounted on the port and starboard edges of the saucer, on the upper lip, and are served by the Primary Radial EPS trunk.

Computing
The core of the Renaissance is a light-weight Type-III-A duotronic system. Like all Type-III cores, this is produced by Tellar Processors, in the Tellar system. The Type-III-A is a capable evolution of the earlier Type-III system, delivering 20% greater capacity. In terms of processing power, it is a full generation ahead of the early duotronics employed by systems such as the Type-I-B used by the Constitutions.

The Type-III-A employs a six discrete processing loops, each consisting of a chain of twelve Daystrom Mk9 Logic Units, spaced one to each deck through the "meat" of the saucer-section. The core is served by Yoyodyne coolant systems, and a the Inner Core EPS Loop, which runs from the neck to loop around the core and return, and is the same EPS trunk that serves the sensors and bridge.

A specialist targeting computer also exists, this one placed near the neck of the starship, port-side. The TCU on the Renaissance is a Type-III duotronic, which is still a cutting edge design, with its heavy-weight peer, the DI-4 Predictive Targeting Array, employed in the Ambassador-project. Like the DI-4, the Type-III duotronic is produced by Saturn Tactical Manufacturing. There are a number of Starfleet facilities that have been set-up to handle the work of tasking the Mk-IV SR sensor arrays with the Type-III TCU, though where feasible the work is carried out at Saturn.

Life Support
As befitting a ship class that became the base pattern for Comfort-class hospital ships, the Renaissance has comprehensive medical facilities, with a pair of explorer-grade Starfleet Medical 2304 standard sickbays, one in the saucer, one in the secondary hull. The saucer-section sickbay is main sickbay, and provides the offices of the Chief Medical Officer. This is located halfway between bridge and bow, carefully spaced between the Inner Core EPS Loop and the Tactical Trunk, with considerable SIF reinforcing on the bulkheads in between. As with all Starfleet Medical equipment, they are provided by the Starfleet Medical Manufacturing Division's plants on Mars and Amarkia.

Modern Mk-V Protein Synth systems are used to provide perishable crew stores, as well as consumable medicinals and science materials.

Phasers
A trio of Model 83 twin phaser banks protects the Renaissance at close-range. This is a venerable phaser design, but one that is very reliable now, and its waveform is said to be one of the first patterns Romulan and Klingon sensor operators are drilled on. The Renaissance mounts two of the twin phaser banks in widely-separated fittings on the dorsal side of the saucer, at 330 and 30 degrees from the bridge. These are served by the Tactical Radial Trunk EPS conduit, which loops in the middle of the saucer, a deck above the central deck, and exclusively delivers to the phasers and the saucer deflectors. The third set of phasers is mounted dorsally on the secondary hull to protect the nacelles, and is served by a plasma tap from the warp matrix PTC feeds.

Early editions of the Renaissance received their phaser systems from Saturn Tactical Manufacturing, however this plant has now switched entirely to the new Type IV and Type V phaser, as well as early phaser array systems. Instead, Amarkian group Tales Har Nadionworks has taken over production of the Model 83 phaser bank in both single and twin mounting.

Torpedoes
A quartet of Mk II Light-Weight torpedo launchers provides substantial long-range punch to the Renaissance. These are all mounted in the secondary hull, with three forward - mounted above the navigational deflector dish - and the fourth is aft mounted, firing over the aft shuttle bay. The aft torpedo is served from a magazine that sits several frames forward of it, and delivers via a turbolift style delivery chute.