Hello all!
Ric here with a quick first look at the new ship unveiled in the teaser of Star Trek Picard
season 3, the USS Titan NCC-80102-A.
We know next to nothing about this vessel at his early reveal stage, but a few things
can be gleaned and more can be speculated on.
For starters, the class was named the Neo-constitution, which tells us plenty about its designated
role and design philosophy from Starfleet.
You don’t make a vessel and name it a constitution type if you don’t intend to mirror the role
that that vessel for some time filled.
As to why Starfleet would do this, well we have recently seen an Excelsior II class in
2401 and as well as the 2382 Obena-class.
Both of these ships were effectively scaled up and newly outfitted versions of the Excelsior,
so it looks like amid newer designs, the shipyards are turning back to older schematics and simply
updating them with newer technology.
The Neo-Constitution seems to be the next ship to receive this treatment.
The vessel does not look to be too large, judging from the spacedock view and the scale
of the windows and the bridge interior looks to be a redressing of the Sagan-class as seen
on the USS Stargazer NCC-82893.
In fact there is a reason for this interior looking the same,… it saves money, no…
the fact that the bridge and surrounding deck area are lifted from the Sagan class.
Additionally, we can see a two-nacelled Sagan in the background of one shot, and if you
are wondering where the other nacelles went, well then they are also appropriated by the
Neo-Constitution.
I joke, of course we have seen frequent designs that simply take existing nacelles and attach
them to a new frame in every era of Trek.
So the Neo-Constitution appears to be a vessel build on the same principles as the original
“Connie” but includes some developments from the newest science vessels of the time.
Although its nacelles are certainly larger comparatively to its hull and it retains the
constitution’s placement of impulse engines, just more of them.
Both of these suggest that this ship can move fast at both warp and sub-light speeds.
The design itself in real life is a slight overhaul of the Shangri-la class concept,
specifically the Type II-Ranger variant as designed by Bill Krause, so perhaps we can
glean more from the original.
Certainly some elements have carried over such as the saucer section having the striping
and slanted look present on ships from the early 2270s, such as the constitution refit.
It also has the same navigational dome and sensor array on the underside of the saucer
section as seen on ships of that era.
However the Shangri-La was envisioned as a fast attack cruiser of the 2280s onwards era,
and like the Pathfinder-Defiant concept, it featured a designated barrage torpedo launcher
at the fore of the vessel’s saucer.
This has been stripped away from the Neo-constitution, which is not to say it would be unarmoured,
but just that the loadout appears to be less obvious.
Something that I think befits a ship labelled another connie.
Plus its namesake is the USS Titan, Captain Riker’s vessel from 2379 to possibly around
2391, based on Riker’s reserve-retirement to Nepenthe.
This Luna class was an exploratory vessel first and foremost, but easily with the capability
of patrol and defence.
Finally its commanding officer is the newly commissioned Commander Seven of Nine, and
I do wonder if she will go by Commander Hansen, Seven or Commander Nine.
Her background on Voyager makes her ideal for scientific roles, but her more recent
experiences in the Rangers have had her patrolling and defending sectors too, so both of these
roles would suit her.
And if we are looking at the role of the original constitution, it pretty much embodied these
two roles alongside diplomatic duties.
This is about as much as I am willing to speculate on however because honestly, it could go anywhere
from here.
I look forwards to seeing what other ships exist in this time too, as I think we are
all agreed that there is probably another vessel in the ESD that they are going to be
visiting at some point.
So I’ll leave this analysis here and thank you for watching, I have been Ric and see
you later next time, goodbye!