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Description
The Burke class nearspace frigate and its subclasses (Aldrin, Burke Flight II, Burke Flight II (with weapons pod), Aldrin Flight II, Aldrin Flight II (with booster pod), Burke Flight III, Aldrin Flight III, Magellan, Burke Flight IV, Burke Flight IV (with weapons pod), Aldrin Flight IV, Aldrin Flight IV (with booster pod), Burke Flight IV (with deflector pod)) are Part 2 of the Project Starship series.

Image provided by: Adrasil
Original inspirations from: Star Trek (2009), Star Fleet Battles, Star Trek: Axanar, & Tobias Richter
Incorporating parts built by: captshade & nichodo
History from: Hobbyist's Guide to the UFP Starfleet , by Timo Saloniemi

In 2244, the Andorian shipbuilder company Chiokis, a sub-contracting design firm for previous ship classes, won the Star Fleet bid to modernize the Burke class nearspace frigate with the new solid state era nacelles. Chiokis seized this for the opportunity to promote its primary hull design (also a saucer shape), because the new PB-45 warp nacelles required external power generation: a total matter conversion powerplant not built into the nacelle itself, allowing the ship to achieve a cruising speed of warp 5 and a max speed of warp 8. This required a near-complete redesign of the saucer section to accommodate this massive new system.

Select ships of the Burke and Aldrin subclass series were designated for this radical refit; along with the new saucer modifications--both internal and external--they also received the latest (in the now more dependable) phaser emitters in twin banks, the new SAD impulse assembly, and, for the nearspace frigates, a destroyer-type sensor dish attached to the ventral saucer via a "bulge" extension that would very soon be considered as characteristic of Chiokis' saucers. These modifications gave the ships a more engineered--less organic--look compared to the majority of the remaining ships of Geering origination.

All in all, only 8 of the Burkes would receive this upgrade. Not because the design concept was a failure, by any means, but because of the expense and time for the upgrade was deemed too intrusive. This class would soon be a generation older in comparison to the numerous ship designs expected to be released as the vanguard of a large modernization leap forward for the fleet, and their lifespan would be limited regardless of any major facelifts. Additionally, both the existing nearspace and deep space ships were deemed too critical to operations in the short term to take them out of service for the time needed to refit the entire class.

Note: The Flight IIIs of the Burke are the reason for the inclusion of the entire Burke class into our Project Starship series. The Chiokis saucer used here was a radical shift in primary hull design and the relation to the Constitution class saucer is a clear trail marker.

Would you like to learn more about this class of ship? Download the free Hobbyist's Guide to the UFP Starfleet , a three-volume, 1236-page history of space flight, by Timo Saloniemi.

For an extremely rich gallery of Star Trek starships and vessels from other universes, check out my partner, Adrasil , here on DeviantArts.

Description
The Burke class nearspace frigate and its subclasses (Aldrin, Burke Flight II, Burke Flight II (with weapons pod), Aldrin Flight II, Aldrin Flight II (with booster pod), Burke Flight III, Aldrin Flight III, Magellan, Burke Flight IV, Burke Flight IV (with weapons pod), Aldrin Flight IV, Aldrin Flight IV (with booster pod), Burke Flight IV (with deflector pod)) are Part 2 of the Project Starship series.

Image provided by: Adrasil
Original inspirations from: Star Trek (2009), Star Fleet Battles, Star Trek: Axanar, & Tobias Richter
Incorporating parts built by: captshade & nichodo
History from: Hobbyist's Guide to the UFP Starfleet , by Timo Saloniemi

In 2244, the Andorian shipbuilder company Chiokis, a sub-contracting design firm for previous ship classes, won the Star Fleet bid to modernize the Burke class nearspace frigate with the new solid state era nacelles. Chiokis seized this for the opportunity to promote its primary hull design (also a saucer shape), because the new PB-45 warp nacelles required external power generation: a total matter conversion powerplant not built into the nacelle itself, allowing the ship to achieve a cruising speed of warp 5 and a max speed of warp 8. This required a near-complete redesign of the saucer section to accommodate this massive new system.

Select ships of the Burke and Aldrin subclass series were designated for this radical refit; along with the new saucer modifications--both internal and external--they also received the latest (in the now more dependable) phaser emitters in twin banks, the new SAD impulse assembly, and, for the nearspace frigates, a destroyer-type sensor dish attached to the ventral saucer via a "bulge" extension that would very soon be considered as characteristic of Chiokis' saucers. These modifications gave the ships a more engineered--less organic--look compared to the majority of the remaining ships of Geering origination.

All in all, only 8 of the Burkes would receive this upgrade. Not because the design concept was a failure, by any means, but because of the expense and time for the upgrade was deemed too intrusive. This class would soon be a generation older in comparison to the numerous ship designs expected to be released as the vanguard of a large modernization leap forward for the fleet, and their lifespan would be limited regardless of any major facelifts. Additionally, both the existing nearspace and deep space ships were deemed too critical to operations in the short term to take them out of service for the time needed to refit the entire class.

Note: The Flight IIIs of the Burke are the reason for the inclusion of the entire Burke class into our Project Starship series. The Chiokis saucer used here was a radical shift in primary hull design and the relation to the Constitution class saucer is a clear trail marker.

Would you like to learn more about this class of ship? Download the free Hobbyist's Guide to the UFP Starfleet , a three-volume, 1236-page history of space flight, by Timo Saloniemi.

For an extremely rich gallery of Star Trek starships and vessels from other universes, check out my partner, Adrasil , here on DeviantArts.