USS Excelsior (NCC-2000), the class's lead ship
The Excelsior-class was a type of Federation starship used by the Alliance from the First War through the Third War. It was the backbone of Starfleet for the start of the First War, making it one of the longest serving starship designs, and one of the most recognizable ships in the fleet. The Excelsior-class featured the saucer section-engineering section-warp nacelle layout common to most Starfleet vessels. However, it featured a more streamlined design than was seen in previous classes. USS Excelsior, is most well known Excelsior class ship
Technical data[]
Armaments[]
The initial Mark I design of the Excelsior-class included 16 phaser banks (8 FH-11's, 8 FH-5's) and 4 photon torpedo launchers. The two varied phaser types was to make sure that all weapons arcs were covered by both long-range and short-range weapons. However, the evaluation teams decided to replace the 8 FH-5 banks and replaced them with two further FH-11 banks, which meant that the Excelsior's only had ten phaser banks, but the field of fire overlapped more effectively.
The improvement in torpedo launchers technology allowed two further launchers to be incorporated into the Mark II design and remained in place through further models.
By the time of the Second War, the Excelsior design had been outfitted with improved phaser emplacements, quantum torpedoes and other tactical improvements which brought it into line with later starship designs and proved necessary during the conflicts with the Horde and Imperialists on Duyi'zu.
Defenses[]
The deflector shields of the Excelsior-class were an improved version of the quadri-transducer shield that was in use in the late 23rd century, and was found to deliver more deflective power.