10 Star Trek Questions That Always Confused You
9. Why Was The Kelvin Enterprise Larger Than A Galaxy-Class Starship?
One of the biggest criticisms that Star Trek 2009 received was that it sacrificed nuance for spectacle. While time has been slightly kinder on the film as a whole, there are still several questions that remain. Why, for example, is the Constitution-class Enterprise so large? In canon, the original Enterprise was a fraction of the size of Picard's Enterprise-D, however, the Kelvin ship is both longer and almost as powerful.
The arrival of the Narada, Nero's mining ship from the Prime Universe, changed everything for Starfleet. The USS Kelvin encountered the ship as it arrived, suffering heavy losses in mere moments. Even the suicide run that George Kirk set the ship on didn't destroy the more advanced vessel.
Therefore, back at Utopia Planitia, plans for the fleet were suddenly thrown into disarray. The rollout of new classes of vessels were switched up, with the new Constitution-class being one of the biggest changes. What had originally been designed as purely a vessel of exploration was now armed to the teeth. Quite aside from this, the ship swelled to encompass the new technology that was rushed into production. The final product was evocative of its Prime Universe counterpart, though it was significantly beefed up to deal with the new threats that this galaxy faced.