Lafayette-Class Specs

Mission Statement:

Starfleet requires the introduction of a new class of frigate, no later than the beginning of 2371.  As with previous successful frigate designs, this new starship class, originally code-named 'Janus,' should be a relatively inexpensive starship which can be produced in fairly large numbers.

At the same time, however, such a frigate must be capable of handling a wide variety of missions for Starfleet, including patrol and convoy duties, scouting, policing, and representing Starfleet in diplomatic and cultural contacts.  In today's increasingly difficult interstellar environment and the growing expense of all modern starships, this class must also employ the latest in starship design principles and technology, to give Starfleet an edge in any future conflicts.

Finally, Starfleet has an unmet need for a starship which is capable of engaging in discrete surveillance and covert operations missions.  Without the use of cloaking technology, these missions must be carried out by starships which serve as advanced intelligence-gathering and covert-ops-launching platforms, and yet can travel without attracting undue attention.  It has been decided that this new frigate class would be ideal in this role, and should be designed from the start with such capabilities in mind.

These special missions will require the use of advanced surveillance systems and must rely on the development of shuttlecraft capable of eluding detection.  They will also require that the class be capable of greater speed and combat endurance than would ordinarily be warranted in a ship of its size and mission profile; but we believe that the additional expense would be appropriate and would provide Starfleet with an overall extra edge in its new frigate class.

Note: Some aspects of the Lafayettes design are classified to the point that not even the crew know about them (mainly intelligence-specific modifications), and are released on a need-to-know basis. This information is not an official document, but has been put together from Starfleet technical orders relating to the Lafayette design. Crew members are reminded of Starfleets misinformation policy which could bring the accuracy of some information contained here into question.

Technical Information:

Ship Class: 	Frigate
The Lafayette class is to be a good-sized frigate, not too much smaller than the proposed light cruiser class nicknamed 'Voyager.'  It will also incorporate the new technology and advanced design principles developed for the Voyager project. It is a military vessel, and carries no civilians (except occasionally as passengers/mission specialists). Everyone on board is Starfleet personnel. Posts such as bartenders and barbers are held by serving personnel in addition to their other duties, or occasionally by retired Starfleet personnel holding reserve ranks.

Duties:			Patrol, convoy, scouting, policing, diplomacy.
Classified Duties:	Covert Ops, surveillance, intelligence-gathering
.

Exterior Appearance:	Standard design (saucer, engineering, & two warp nacelles).
 
The saucer section is not designed to separate. Saucer has impulse engine mounted at rear.
Saucer may have 'emergency separation' mode  as the original Enterprise, involving explosive charges on the saucer pylon. Each section has a computer core and helm controls, so this is theoretically possible.]

The Lafayette class will have an outward appearance reminiscent of the curves and lines of Voyager.  Its warp nacelles will not tilt as do Voyager's, but will be at a fixed angle to minimize damage to local subspace regions by optimizing warpfield geometry. However, nacelles are retractable - they can be fully extended or occupy a position where they are amalgamated into the engineering section. The engineering section has a depression either side designed to house the relevant nacelle. In this configuration, the ship is only capable of warp three due to distortion in the warp field.

Interior Details:	12 decks.
Lafayette will have 12 decks, to Voyager's anticipated 15.

Decks 6 & 7 are the overlap between the saucer and engineering sections.

Space will be at a premium, even with the space savings realized by using the Voyager project's advances.  The additional space dedicated to "special missions" will further reduce the space available for crew quarters, recreation facilities, etc.

Saucer Section
Deck	
1	Bridge, Ready room
2	Senior Officers Quarters(9), Officers Lounge
3	Junior Officers Quarters(10*2s), Impulse Engine Room
4	Crew Quarters(8*4s, 8*8s)
5	Passenger Cabins, VIP Suites, Holodeck, Sickbay
6	Transporter Room, Briefing Room
7	Crew Lounge

Engineering Section
Deck	
6	Holosuites (4), Science Labs
7	Cargo Bay 1, Cargo Transporter
8	Cargo Bay 2, Shuttle Bay, Torpedo Room
9	Main Engineering, chief engineers office
10	
11	Security Offices + Brig
12	

Personnel:	116
Lafayettes normal crew complement is 116.  25 officers, 91 enlisted. (exact allocation of officer positions not yet decided. Enlisted personnel allocation is variable by mission).

'Low-level' positions (transporter chief, supply chief) usually staffed by ensigns and lieutenant (j.g.)'s on Galaxy-class vessels are staffed by enlisted personnel.

Enlisted personnel will sleep in bunk beds, barracks-style (probably four to eight per room).  Junior officers will be paired in single rooms with bunk beds, while even senior officers will have very small quarters.  Only the commanding officer and the executive officer will have two-room suites, with the second room doubling as an office.  

Passenger complement is limited by passenger quarters availiable: two VIP suites (as commanding officers quarters), four passenger cabins (as senior officers)

Medical:	Single ward sickbay incorporating operating area
Sickbay will be quite small, and heavy casualties will require the medical staff to take over cargo areas and the like.  

Recreation:	Single holodeck. Four holosuites.
There will be a single holodeck for training and recreation, and a quartet of adjacent holosuites for personal use. There are two lounges, for officers and enlisted personnel respectively. The officers lounge is fitted with comfortable chairs, plus four dining tables (seating four), and has its own bartender. The crew lounge is fitted with eight large tables (seating eight). Both lounges contain a games cupboard with tri-d chess, pharasees squares and other games.

Auxiliary Craft: 	Single shuttle bay housing regular and stealth shuttlecraft.
Lafayette will have a single shuttle bay.  Regular shuttlecraft will be stored there, as well as in the adjacent maintenance bay.  Special operations shuttlecraft will be stored in a maintenance and storage bay immediately below the shuttle bay.

These special operations shuttlecraft are a new generation of 'stealthy' shuttles.  They are designed to transport personnel and light equipment for covert operations and intelligence-gathering missions.  They are warp-capable shuttles, but are designed for bursts of very high impulse speeds.  Through a combination of baffles, anechoic coating and masking devices, these shuttles can evade detection by most civilizations of lesser technology, and are often difficult to detect for even civilizations equal to the Federation in technology.
(we need to design these stealth shuttlecraft)

The Lafayette does not carry fighters (has anybody ever seen fighters in Trek? This isnt Wing Commander  )

Engineering:	Cruising Speed Warp 9.6
Sustainable cruising speed will be warp 9.6, but Lafayette will be capable of bursts of speed up to at least warp 9.975 (Voyager's sustainable cruising speed).  Lafayette is a frigate, not a cruiser, and unlike Voyager is not built to carry the fuel and other resources necessary for long voyages.  It is designed primarily for short-duration voyages, and has a limited cruising radius. Use of burst warp will almost certainly damage the warp coils, which will limit the ship to warp 3 or 4 (until coils replaced at a starbase).

Stealth Mode:	
Involves retraction of the saucer section and warp engine nacelles towards the center of the ship, closing up to make a smaller sensor image. This makes the ship less detectable to sensor sweeps in much the same way as the 'stealth' aircraft of the 21st century (but is still visible to the eye and concentrated sensors - hence not a cloaking device).
Use of stealth mode slows the ship to warp 2 and obscures the photon tube and approximately 50% of phasers. 
Stealth mode will usually allow the ship to pass over a border without being noticed.

(This is what were having as the ships "gimmick" in place of a seperatable saucer section.)

Tactical Systems:	Type VIII phasers.
Offensive weaponry includes Type VIII phasers, with emitter arrays on the forward edge of the Lafayette and concealed directly astern for firing on pursuing ships.  These are expensive phasers, ordinarily installed only in larger starships, and are capable of very powerful energy discharges. However, the Lafayette itself, while producing a great deal of energy for a ship its size, cannot produce the firepower, defensive shielding and manoeuvrability of a major warship during combat operations.  If the phasers are to fire with such power, then resources must be drawn away from other major systems.  Even then, sustained firing at high output levels will not be possible.

Lafayette also features a single photon torpedo launcher.  It is bi-directional, however, and positioned with its exits in the front and rear of the ship.  (The rear torpedo exit is concealed.)  The Lafayette is limited, however, in the number of torpedos it can stock, and is not intended to engage in sustained combat operations.

Defensive shielding is relatively good, but power trade-offs are required with offensive weaponry, warp drive, etc.

Sensors:	High quality sensors for intelligence-gathering.
Lafayette has an good sensor suite, ostensibly for patrolling and for routine monitoring of scientific subjects.  In reality, the sensors are quite expensive, and are configured for optimum use in intelligence gathering:  long-range scanning for vessels and artificial constructs, short-range scanning of planetary systems, and monitoring of communications traffic.

Transporters:	One personnel, one cargo.
Lafayette has one personnel (quantum-resolution) transporter and one cargo (molecular-resolution) transporter.  As is typical on starships, the cargo transporter can be reconfigured for quantum-resolution transport if necessary; this capability may occasionally be useful for covert operations as well as for emergencies.

Bridge:	
(reading from left to right)	
Back Row:				Science, reconfigurable station
Behind Center seats:			Ops 
Center Seats:				1st Officer, Captain, Spare Chair
Front Row (individual consoles):		Conn, Tactical

Note that we have cut down on the number of consoles at the rear, lost engineering, and switched Ops and Tactical (although the Ops station has a chair) from the Galaxy-class design. The reconfigurable station can be anything that is required at the time (Science II, Mission Ops, Engineering, Communications, backup of existing station, etc.)
Bridge officers seem to carry phaser-Is, with tactical and security officers carrying phaser-IIs
There is no 'battle bridge' as the ship cannot separate. There is no distinct 'backup bridge', although conn and tactical functions can be overridden by engineering.

The bridge is housed in a detachable module, and therefore re-configurable at starbases. Individual captains may have consoles configured differently to the manufacturers specifications above. (note that the detachable bridge does not have any propulsion, and cannot be used as a lifeboat, although it does have an emergency life support system separate to the rest of the ship.)