Development on the Defiant began around 2366 in response to the Borg threat to the Federation. After initial and hostile first contact with the Borg, Starfleet did what it hadn’t done in decades, place greater emphasis on Starfleet’s essential role in the defense of the Federation. Drafting plans for such a defense required a starship capable of fighting against the Borg. The Federation’s devastating defeat in the Battle of Wolf 359, resulting in the loss of nearly 40 ships and 11,000 personnel to a single Borg vessel, proved that the Federation’s defenses were horribly inadequate, and plans were spearheaded for the production of a more combat capable starship. Officially classified as an escort vessel, the Defiant was nothing less than Starfleet’s first design of a warship intended to combat the Borg.
USS Defiant