Star Trek: Every Hero Ship Ranked Worst To Best

Starfleet began development of the Defiant-class as a response to the growing Borg threat in 2366. The fleet was devastated by a single Borg Cube in The Battle Of Wolf 359, making it clear that a new generation of warships was needed to protect the Federation. The project went through some early design problems and eventually the Borg threat became less urgent, so Starfleet temporarily abandoned the project until 2370, when Benjamin Sisko requested the ship to be pulled out of storage to assist Deep Space Nine in their conflict with the Dominion.

After decades of relatively peaceful exploration, it was interesting to see a Federation starship designed primarily for combat. It had extremely limited scientific facilities, no families or non-essential civilians onboard, a cloaking device, and far more firepower than any other small escort vessel.

Later in the war, the Defiant was destroyed during an engagement with the Breen, so Starfleet sent another Defiant-class ship, the USS Sao Paulo, to replace it. Eventually, this ship was renamed the Defiant in honour of their lost vessel.

Both ships showed a very different side to the Federation than the others on this list. The Defiant's weren't just starships, they were warships. The design of these ships was also very different from the typical Starfleet look, but they somehow still fit in.