Hello all, Ric here breaking down a new class of vessel, the Reliant class that
first featured in canon alongside four other classes from Star Trek Online in
Picard’s second season. I have already covered the other three, so here is the last of these ships.
The Reliant class was Designed for Star Trek Online by Hector Ortiz in 2017 and modelled
by Thomas Marrone. The class was designed to be a 25th century replacement for the miranda
class and one of the first to establish an overall look to the ships of that era. As such numerous,
classic profiles were reimaged with a new aesthetic including the Galaxy class as the
Andromeda/Cygnus class, the Nebula into the Sutherland and the Miranda into the Reliant.
The overall looks would be similar with the use of hull colouration and the overall styles
looking as if they were all designed at once, which they were. Both in and out of universe.
A lot of effort was given to maintaining the Miranda class’ proportions when creating the
Reliant to clearly show the design inspiration and it was to undertake the similar roles
as to its preceding designs. The game also featured a class called the ShiKhar class,
that was also a miranda style variation that preceded this design,
but I think you can see what I mean when I say the newer designs all shared a look.
The name Reliant, much like the Sutherland was chosen as the name of the class after a famous
vessel of the inspiring class of the same name, in this case the Reliant of Star Trek Wrath of Khan.
In universe the Reliant class was designed to follow the same premise as the Miranda class,
meaning it was a light cruiser designed to be able to undertake both scientific survey,
logistics and regular patrol duties while having the same efficient use of space as the miranda. It
would operate frequently as part of the Logistical and Operational Support Core. There was the same
focus of utility but a renewed bolstering of its mobility when compared to the older class. It was
also to prototype a myriad of new technologies that would go on to become federation standard,
being the first of these new vessels to incorporate what would later become known as
Sixth Generation enhancements. On a larger stage, it was also designed as an answer to Romualn and
Klingon vessels that occupied a similar role within their respective fleets. This gave the
Reliant class the mission profile of the Advanced Light Cruiser alongside being an adaptable testbed
for these new, soon to be routine innovations. These additions included in diburnium hull plating
which gave them the distinctive black and light grey hull texturing. Diburnium was used because
it was far more resistant against disruptor fire than other types of damage. Given the
high usage rate of Disruptors outside of the Federation, this alloy makes sense to choose,
guarding against a wider array of aggressors. It was also field testing a limited Quantum
slipstream drive based on the research of Admiral Janeway’s USS Dauntless that
was seeing wider implementation. Although used on prior ships, the biggest point of
the Reliant class was to be at the front of the consistent implementation of these technologies.
This QSD was known as a Burst Drive and could achieve slipstream velocities for 30 minutes,
covering 150 lightyears before requiring a 12 hour period to recalibrate and cooldown.
It also had a more refined sensor system combined with an array of particle emitters,
including a “Potential Energy Entangler”. This device was a strange one that tied the
energy present in the weapons output of enemy ships into the impulse systems of the Reliant,
effectively syphoning off a small degree of power to improve the ship’s sublight manoeuvrability.
The ship was one of the first to contain higher levels of automation, making systems run smoother
and with less delay. Ships always were incredibly autonomous, with the Computer Cores being close to
thinking artificial intelligences as it was, but the Reliant class was designed to manage intricate
systems with minimal fuss. This change, while not as impressive as a warp core overhaul, was
nonetheless one of the more important considering every system was enhanced by the alterations.
The first of the class was the USS Reliant NX-90200 and constructed at the San Francisco
Fleet Yards in 2397. The Reliant was designed alongside the schematics for the Sutherland and
Gagarin class ships, each of these fitting into a different role, each being a “Sixth Generation”
starship. The Reliant class would feature the same large hangers as the Miranda had done, giving
it not only an impressive array of auxiliary craft, but additional cargo space. This made
it ideal in roles such as delivery, support and disaster relief efforts. The USS Larkin in 2401,
recorded a successful rescue of 800 colonists in under an hour to evade a meteorite impact.
Much as with the Miranda class, thought was given to making the Reliant modular and there
were variations with heavier weapons platforms or additional sensor pods. The reliant was 251
metres long which makes it around 172 wide and 54 metres tall including the mission pod.
It had a crew of around 200 people spanning 11 decks and an evacuation capacity of around 1000.
Its maximum warp speed was 9.9 and it could sustain a cruise speed of warp 7. However it
also had the QSD Burst Drive which enabled short sprints at Quantum slipstream speeds for half hour
intervals. It had two deflector arrays as with other survey style vessels like the Intrepid.
The Reliant class had 8 type-XII Phaser arrays around the saucer and two on the mission pod
as well as an additional smaller array either side of the sensor pod for a total of 12 banks.
It had four torpedo launchers and carried a small complement of Quantum torpedoes,
but mostly relied on Photons.
In terms of auxiliary craft, if the shuttle bays were fully stocked and not being used for cargo,
it could hold 18 shuttlecraft in total but often ran with around 10.
The Reliant class effectively stepped into the role of a fleet wide workhorse,
undertaking missions within Federation territory, mostly in logistics. Occasionally a lucky ship
might find itself assigned to a patrol or survey mission but for the most part, these
vessels were busy running around UFP territory on courier duty or taking on lightweight missions.
Whereas the Miranda class was designed as a battleship then adapted to this role,
the Reliant was always supposed to be a workhorse. This means while the Reliant is an overall
improvement of its prior ancestors, that is only a product of the latest technologies. It is not the
fastest ship, not the toughest and certainly not the most prestigious exploratory craft.
But it can do just about any mission it is assigned to, just not as quickly.
In this vein it seems to have replaced ships like the California Class,
a jack of all trades but master of none. The Reliant class launched in large numbers
alongside the Sutherland but is not quite as common as the Miranda was in its lifetime,
but that’s simply because the Reliant is only 4 years old by the end of Picard’s third season.
Additionally, its role as effectively a large scale test of implementation of newer technologies
means that this vessel might not see sustained vast quantities if the level of development
proves unfeasible or unnecessary for continued production. After all, Starfleet went on using the
Miranda and Excelsior for generations beyond their heyday, even when better ships were available.
So the Reliant class might get phased out as unnecessarily complicated for its more menial
tasks but I guess we'll see. Thanks for watching this breakdown of the Reliant class light cruiser,
I’ve been Ric and I’ll see you next time for another lore video, thanks again and goodbye!