- "They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm." - Dorothy Parker[1]
The Buran-class, meaning "snowstorm" in Russian, was a type of spacecraft developed by Starfleet in the early 25th century. It was developed under the auspices of the Yard 39 Project and was inspired by the 23rd century Cardenas-class. Starfleet classified the Buran as a scale 5 heavy cruiser.
Description[]
Starfleet engineers implemented many concepts from the C3 Development Project into the Buran design. This allowed for starships of the class to function as mobile command posts at a fraction of the resources needed for the original "command cruisers," like the Concorde-class. A contemporary of the Europa-class, the Buran was designed around full C3ISTAR (command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) capabilities.
The Buran-class' multiphasic communications antennae, located in fins stretching along the dorsal hull, were capable of relaying battle-critical information instantaneously. A dedicated computer core allowed for real-time processing of high amounts of tactical information. This was all interconnected in the unit operations center, where leadership could use the full capabilities of the cruiser when coordinating with other Starfleet or allied vessels.
History[]
Design[]
In the mid 2390s, it was discovered that the baryon eruptions from the star of the TL-9139 system were subsiding. This allowed Starfleet to enter the area for the first time in 150 years and recover the TL-9139 Starfleet Maintenance Yards, a Federation shipyard abandoned when the environmental hazard began in 2259. Starfleet, still recovering from the loss of the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, directed its its engineers to study and repurpose the shipyards. Initial efforts were devoted to repurposing the recovered spaceframes and constructing numerous Inquiry-class vessels. The recovery effort was known as the Yard 39 Project.[2] Several Cardenas-class hulls were refit and entered limited service as part of the project.
One of the first starships to be completed in the Yard 39 Project was the Europa-class. Designed around command, control, and communications (C3) and small unit leadership, the cruiser was a success and led some within Starfleet Command to think bigger. In 2400, the Corps of Engineers was tasked with developing a new design that could serve an expanded role at the center of larger units. Not only was the desired product to have C3 capabilities, but the project was to also include intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconaissance (C3ISTAR).
The engineering team working to restore Cardenas-class starships at the TL-9139 Starfleet Maintenance Yards was joined in the endeavor by staff from the Advanced Starship Design Bureau as the Cardenas profile was determined to be an optimal base for the new design. What became the Buran-class retained the four nacelles and unique forward bridge of the Cardenas while implementing many technological improvements made in the late 24th century.
Service[]
The class prototype, nicknamed the "Battleaxe," was constructed at the TL-9139 Starfleet Maintenance Yards. It was commissioned in late 2402 and placed under the command of Andorian Captain Jhylaa th'Pev.[3] Five additional Buran-class starships were commissioned between December of that year and February the next.
Elements of its design, mainly its C3ISTAR-related systems, inspired engineers of Project Union Station and were implemented in the Concorde, Geneva, and Presidio-classes.
Technical specifications[]
Physical arrangement[]
View of the Master systems display (Void-Roamer).
The Buran-class was 446 meters long, 250 meters wide, and 78 meters high. Without its nacelles, which added significantly to the length and height, the class was 289 meters in length, had a beam of 240 meters, and a height of 47 meters. It had a displacement of 3,050,000 tonnes, much of which came from its four nacelles.
Deck plan[]
The following was the standard internal layout of Buran-class vessels.[4]
| Deck no. | Primary hull | Secondary hull |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Recreation room 1, Astrometrics lab | |
| 3 | unit operations center, Primary sickbay, CMO's office, morgue, Medlabs 1 & 2 | |
| 4 | Bridge, CO's ready room, Executive conference room | |
| 5 | CO's quarters, ODN core access, Holodecks 1-4, Transporter rooms 2 & 3 | Hangar bay, Docking control |
| 6 | VIP quarters | Main engineering, CENG's office |
| 7 | Mess hall 1, Computer core access | Shuttlebay |
| 8 | Secondary sickbay, Counselor's office, Medlab 3, Recreation room 2 | |
| 9 | Security center, CSEC's office, Mess hall 2 | |
| 10 | Cargo bays 1 & 2 | |
| 14 | Deflector control |
Command systems[]
External view of the bridge and unit operations center.
Bridge[]
Deviating from most Starfleet designs, the bridge of the Buran-class was located at the fore of Deck 4 in the primary hull. The facility was often referred to as the navigation bridge, due to the unit operations center effectively serving as the flag bridge. During yellow and red alert conditions, a defense field would envelop the bridge, giving it an added layer of protection against weaponized transport and intruders.
Unit operations center[]
Above and aft of the bridge was the unit operations center (UOC), which served as a command, control, and communications hub during unit operations. It served as the flag bridge during activities involving multiple starships working in concert. Like the bridge and other command facilities, the UOC was protected by an additional defense field.
Propulsion systems[]
View of the port nacelles.
The Buran design made use of paired Ceries PD.73 Matter/Anti-Matter Reaction Assemblies. These powered four Shoshi Sigma-class 9 Scabbard Eco-Linear Warp Drive Units with Multi-Phasic Bussard Ramscoop Collectors, allowing for speeds up to Warp 9.95, and two HeliosCorp Mod 35 Hyper Subatomic Unified Energy Impulse Engines.
The class also carried a quantum slipstream propulsion system (QSPS) in the form of a single Rigel Labs X06-C Quantum Slipstream Field Projector, which allowed each vessel to travel at slipstream speeds exceeding 300 light years per hour. Due to power limitations at the time of the design's launch, the drive could only be operated for 15 seconds before needing a 2 hour recovery downtime.
An Ithra IT-5 Transwarp Coil allowed Buran-class starships to connect to the Federation Transwarp Network and jump to gateways within the network at speeds of 360,000 light years per hour. The system had massive power needs, even more than the quantum slipstream drive. To power the coil, starships had to divert energy from weapon and shield systems. Due to strains on the IT-5 coil, it could only be used once every 20 hours.
Dorsal view of six of the MDMS vanes, the J-DOME array, and one of the type-VII phaser turrets.
Science and remote sensing systems[]
To accommodate its role as a command cruiser, the Buran-class was designed with an advanced and extensive sensor package. Its primary sensor systems were its J-DOME Active Omni-Directional Sensor Array, which was located on the dorsal side of the secondary hull, its eight DYN-90 Multi-band Linear Sensor Suites, its four Omniwave Passive Sensor Matrices, and its eight Multidifferential-multispectral (MDMS) Passive Sensor Vanes. The design also included two SENTINEL Omni-Directional Targeting Arrays to provide enhanced tactical information to its command facilities.
Auxiliary systems[]
View of the navigational deflector.
The Buran's navigational deflector was a unique, pioneering design. Instead of the traditional dish, it used a layered, vane-style to accomplish the same purpose.
Tactical systems[]
The hull of Buran-class starships was made of a neutronium alloy with a duranium nanomesh coating, reinforced with micro-ablative generators. Based upon technology brought back from the Delta Quadrant by the USS Voyager, these generators helped to dissipate energy across the hull and to regenerate damaged portions of the ablative hull coating.
Additionally, each armor panel was attuned to passively absorb, emit, or reflect subspace emissions in different ways, providing some basic sensor masking.
Three Yoyodyne 960-B unified field emitter deflector shield arrays projected unimatrix shields with regenerative, multi-spectrum, covariant, and metaphasic properties around the vessels. Nexus Defense Screens, that protected the crew from the effects of the Nexus and similar phenomena, were also integrated into the shield systems.
Though the Buran-class was designed to serve at the center of Starfleet units in a command and support role, it was still outfitted with several defensive armaments. Vessels mounted thirteen Annular Confinement Beam-jacketed Type-X phasers and six variable-payload launch tubes, as well as three Type-VII phasers as part of its active protection system. Quantum torpedoes were carried as standard ordnance, but the Buran also carried a complement of tricobalt devices for the bombardment of heavy targets.
View of the starboard CEMCM baffle.
Two cyber-electromagnetic countermeasure (CEMCM) baffles, located where the primary and secondary hulls converged, allowed Buran starships to create powerful fields that provided some protection against sensor scans, target locks, digital assaults, and other CEM attacks.
Auxiliary systems[]
Sixteen emitter pads on the starship's exterior were connected to its transporter system, which consisted of twelve personnel transporters, three cargo transporters, and thirty emergency transporters.
Holographic projectors were installed throughout Buran-class vessels, which allowed for emergency holograms to be quickly activated at any location in a time of need. Each starship's Zimmerman HS-4.7 photonic core stored the programs for two Emergency Medical Holograms, two Emergency Engineering Holograms, six Emergency Security Holograms, and a single Emergency Command Hologram.
Auxiliary craft systems[]
External view of the shuttlebay, flanked by the impulse drive units, and four of the variable-payload launchers.
The sole shuttlebay of the Buran design was located at the aft of the secondary hull. The initial complement of auxiliary craft for the starships consisted of four shuttlepods, six shuttlecraft, and six workpods. The shuttlebay and hangar complex could hold a maximum of twenty-two craft, although carrying such numbers would place severe limitations on operational space.
The Buran's launch and recovery system (LARS) consisted of several tractor beam projectors both external and internal to the shuttlebay. A computer-assisted guidance protocol would also take control of arriving and disembarking craft to ensure safety.
Each vessel carried a total of one hundred and eighteen Type A Mark IX Autonomous Survival and Recovery Vehicles (ASRV), fifty of which were berthed in the dorsal hull, sixty-six ventrally, and one each on port and starboard between the pylons.
Crew support systems[]
Holding an M-class environmental standard, Buran vessels carried an operational crew of 480 and a standard complement of 600 when operating in a command cruiser role. Due to limited space, the starship had a rather small maximum evacuation capacity of 3000.
Medical facilities[]
The Buran-class contained two sickbay wards, its primary, Class G, sickbay on Deck 3 and a secondary Class D sickbay on Deck 8. The chief medical officer's office was connected to the ward on Deck 3, which contained twenty-four biobeds in its recovery area and six in its intensive care unit. The sickbay ward on Deck 8 contained twelve biobeds, with an additional four in its ICU. Additionally, a morgue, four private recovery rooms, a dental suite, an optical suite, and two large medical laboratories were adjacent to the sickbay on Deck 3. The physical therapy ward, the counselor's office, and a small medlab were connected to the sickbay on Deck 8.
Ships commissioned[]
Vessels of the Buran-class were traditionally named after early spacecraft from Federation member worlds.
| Designation | Registry | Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Ares | NCC-96404 | 2402- | |
| USS Buran | NCC-96400 | 2402- | First of its class, preceded in name by Challenger-class |
| USS Delta | NCC-96406 | 2402- | |
| USS Energia | NCC-96401 | 2402- | |
| USS Lolis Vanir | NCC-96402 | 2402- | |
| USS Moonglow | NCC-96403 | 2402- | |
| USS Pyrios | NCC-96414 | ||
| USS Shenlong | NCC-96405 | 2402- |
Appendices[]
Connections[]
| Starfleet |
|---|
| Details: United Federation of Planets • Starfleet Command • Starfleet uniforms • Starfleet starship registries
Leadership: Commander-in-chief • Joint Chiefs • Chief of Starfleet External Affairs • Chief of Starfleet Operations • Chief of Starfleet Research and Exploration • Chief of Starfleet Tactical Agencies: Operations (Engineering • Judicial • Materiel Supply • Mission Operations • Personnel Management • Records Service • Shipyards Operations • Starbase Operations) • Research & Exploration (Science • Medical) • External Affairs • Tactical (Intelligence • Security • MACO) Notable units: Ktarn Fleet • Task Force 77 Facilities: Deep Space K-7 • Deep Space K-13 • Deep Space 9 • Masamichi Array • Starbase 45-Keepsake • Starbase 82-Maat • Starbase 234-Beskerm • Starbase 247-Vershina |
Sources consulted[]
- Buran class article at Memory Beta.
- Buran Command Dreadnought Cruiser article at the Star Trek Online Wiki.
- Star Trek Online Starships Collection issue 05: "U.S.S. Buran NCC-96400."
- Star Trek Online - Mirror of Discovery short story: "First Impressions."
- Buran-class starship article at the 26th Fleet Wiki.
- Article at Jane's Interstellar.
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Dorothy Parker, "Fair Weather," Sunset Gun, line 8. This line was used on the dedication plaque of USS Buran (NCC-96400), class prototype.
- ↑ Star Trek Online - Age of Discovery short story: "Utopia Planetia: The Mystery of Yard 39."
- ↑ Star Trek Online - Mirror of Discovery short story: "First Impressions."
- ↑ Based upon the MSD created by Void-Roamer.