The Guardian class Orbital Defence Platform is Starfleet’s answer to the Cardassian designs built and deployed during the war with the Federation/Klingon/Romulan Alliance. The fleet which attacked Chin’Toka was decimated by these immobile platforms and only the smart thinking by the crew of the USS Defiant allowed the Alliance fleet to emerge victorious.

The surprise Breen attack on Earth also forced the Federation to rethink its antiquated defence platforms. The Breen fleet was virtually untouched by the platforms during the attack and several Starfleet facilities were severely damaged, including Starfleet Headquarters. The years of safety had allowed the defences of Earth to slowly dwindle. Once the smoke had cleared the Advanced Starship Design Bureau put forth a directive for a new defence platform that would be used to defend Federation core worlds as well as Starfleet shipyards and design facilities. The directive indicated the total number of platforms that would need to be procured would be in thousands.

Loosely based on the Cardassian ODP, they borrow some specifications from them. The first is regenerative shielding common to the Cardassian design. With a small volume to protect, they provide the best defense possible. Ablative armor was considered as well for when the shields were knocked down, but it was deemed to expensive and the design team settled for duranium armor.
The weapon systems are equally impressive. At the tip of each arm is a Type U pulse phaser cannon similar to the design located on Defiant and Hornet class starships. Also equipping the platforms is a pair of micro-torpedo launchers. She is stocked with 245 micro-torpedoes. Micro-photon torpedoes are standard but all Federation torpedo types are compatible with the micro-system, including quantum torpedoes.

However, the Federation platforms are designed to avoid the same flaw that destroyed the Cardassian defences at Chin’Toka. The Chin’Toka defences were beaten when the crew of the USS Defiant was able to deceive the platforms into destroying their own power source. As a result the Federation platforms are equipped with 2 fusion generators providing power for the weapons, sensors and shields.

Specifications

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