USS Defiant ( 2370 ) The USS " Defiant " ( NX - 74205 ) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . This was the prototype of the class and the second Federation ship known to bear the name " Defiant " . History . Origins . Development on the " Defiant " began around 2366 in response to the Borg threat to the Federation . After initial and hostile first contact with the Borg , Starfleet did what it hadn ' t done in decades , place greater emphasis on Starfleet ' s essential role in the defense of the Federation . Drafting plans for such a defense required a starship capable of fighting against the Borg . The Federation ' s devastating defeat in the Battle of Wolf 359 , resulting in the loss of nearly 40 ships and 11 , 000 personnel to a single Borg vessel , proved that the Federation ' s defenses were horribly inadequate , and plans were spearheaded for the production of a more combat capable starship . Officially classified as an escort vessel , the " Defiant " was nothing less than Starfleet ' s first design of a warship intended to combat the Borg . The vessel featured minimal equipment for scientific research and was not designed to accommodate families . ( ) The " Defiant " did not perform well in its initial trial runs . The vessel was overpowered and over - gunned for a ship of its size – so much so that the " Defiant " nearly shook itself apart when the engines were tested at full power . Ultimately , these design flaws , combined with the Borg threat becoming less urgent , led Starfleet to the decision to abandon the project and place the prototype in storage . ( ) Service at Deep Space 9 . After the was destroyed in late 2370 , Commander Benjamin Sisko , who served on the team that designed the " Defiant " , requested that the vessel be pulled out of storage and assigned to Deep Space 9 to counter a new threat of the Dominion . The vessel was officially launched in 2370 , on stardate 47538 . 5 , from the Antares Ship Yards . Arriving in early 2371 , the " Defiant " s first assignment was to attempt to convince the Founder s of the Dominion that the Federation posed no threat to them . After a special amendment was made to the Treaty of Algeron , the Romulan Star Empire installed one of their cloaking device s aboard the vessel to aid in its mission – in exchange for any intelligence gained on the Dominion . ( " Defiant " dedication plaque ; ) The mission did not go well for the DS9 crew . Shortly after entering the Gamma Quadrant , the " Defiant " was attacked by several Jem ' Hadar fighter s . During a resulting battle , the vessel was boarded , and the senior officer s were captured and placed into a simulation to test how Starfleet might react to the Dominion attempting to gain a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant . Ultimately , the crew was discovered by Bajoran Militia officers Major Kira Nerys and Odo , and were allowed to return to DS9 with the " Defiant " . ( ) DS9 ' s chief of operations , Miles O ' Brien , spent two weeks overhauling the " Defiant " s structural integrity field to overcome the ship ' s design flaws . ( ) Several weeks later , the " Defiant " transported Lieutenant Jadzia Dax to the Trill to receive medical treatment . ( ) When Major Kira was abducted by the Cardassian Union ' s Obsidian Order , Commander Sisko took the " Defiant " into Cardassian space in a rescue attempt . To ensure the Cardassians did not identify the ship , the vessel ' s shield harmonic s were reconfigured to make the " Defiant " appear to be a Kobheerian freighter . ( ) The " Defiant " made contact with the planet during an exploration mission in the Gamma Quadrant . ( ) Later in 2371 , Maquis operative Thomas Riker hijacked the " Defiant " and used it to attack several Cardassian targets . Commander Sisko was forced to travel to Cardassia Prime with Gul Dukat to help track down the vessel . Although Dukat initially wanted to destroy the " Defiant " , he agreed to release the vessel and the Maquis crew to Starfleet custody in exchange for the " Defiant " s scans of the Orias system and Riker himself . After facing overwhelming opposition from Obsidian Order forces deployed from the Orias system , Riker ultimately surrendered and the " Defiant " was returned to DS9 . ( ) Later the same year , the " Defiant " visited Earth , where the vessel ' s senior staff was to attend the Annual Starfleet Symposium on the current situation in the Gamma Quadrant . ( ) Several weeks later , the " Defiant " was used to carry out a joint project between the governments of the Federation , Cardassia , and Bajor , to establish communications between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants . ( ) After a joint Obsidian Order - Tal Shiar fleet entered the Gamma Quadrant on a mission to destroy the , Vice Admiral Toddman ordered that the " Defiant " remain at DS9 to protect the Bajoran sector from any Dominion retaliation . Despite these orders , Commander Sisko took the vessel into the Gamma Quadrant in order to rescue Odo and Elim Garak , who were being held on one of the Romulan vessels in the fleet . Even with sabotage of the cloaking device by security chief Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington , the " Defiant " ultimately succeeded in its mission and returned to DS9 . Admiral Toddman decided not to file charges against Sisko or any of the other officers who had joined him . ( ) In late 2371 , a Changeling posing as Federation ambassador Krajensky sent the " Defiant " on a patrol mission of the Federation - Tzenkethi border . During the mission , sabotaged the " Defiant " , causing it to fly out of control towards a Tzenkethi colony that was intended to be attacked ; the Dominion hoped it would provoke a second war between the two powers . The crew was eventually able to regain control of the vessel and kill the Changeling . ( ) In early 2372 , the " Defiant " fought its way through Cardassian space against Klingon forces – as the Klingon Empire had withdrawn from the Khitomer Accords due to the Federation ' s failure to support their invasion of Cardassia – to bring the Detapa Council to Deep Space 9 . During this mission , the ship once briefly used its tractor beam to reduce the accuracy of a attack cruiser ' s disruptor banks , when it was forced to drop its usual deflector shield s to beam the Council to safety . ( ) The " Defiant " was used by Doctor Lenara Kahn and her research team in an attempt to create an artificial wormhole . ( ) Several weeks later , the " Defiant " traveled to the Gamma Quadrant to meet with a Karemma starship . During the meeting , the two vessels were attacked by Jem ' Hadar forces . The " Defiant " engaged the Jem ' Hadar in the atmosphere of a gas giant and took severe damage ; several of the senior officers were incapacitated . Under the command of Lieutenant Commander Worf , the " Defiant " was able to destroy the Jem ' Hadar ships and rescue the Karemma . ( ) In mid - 2372 , Lt . Commander Worf took the " Defiant " to Earth to assist Captain Sisko in foiling a plot by Admiral Leyton which would have overthrown the Federation government and established martial law . While en route , the " Defiant " was forced to engage the under the command of Captain Erika Benteen , who was operating under the assumption that the " Defiant " was manned by Changelings . After a prolonged battle in which both ships took significant damage ( it was strongly suggested by Major Kira that the " Lakota " was " in even worse shape " than the " Defiant " ) , the " Lakota " eventually stood down when Benteen conferred with Worf and Kira about her orders to stop the " Defiant " . Thus , the " Defiant " was allowed to continue to Earth with the evidence Sisko needed to stop the coup . ( ) Major Kira used the " Defiant " to stop the Klingon Empire from mining the Bajoran sector , later that year . ( ) The " Defiant " later became home to Worf , who found adapting to life on Deep Space 9 difficult . Captain Sisko gave him approval to live on the vessel , so long as it did not interfere with his duties . ( ) During an escort mission where the " Defiant " was protecting several Cardassian freighter s against Klingon raids , Commander Worf accidentally destroyed a Klingon civilian transport ship . The Klingon Empire requested that Worf be extradited to face justice for the ship ' s destruction , but was refused when it was determined that the transport ship had been unmanned . ( ) Following an attack on DS9 by Jem ' Hadar rebels , the " Defiant " pursued their vessel into the Gamma Quadrant , and rescued the crew of a disabled Jem ' Hadar fighter . The crews of the " Defiant " and the fighter then worked together to destroy an Iconian gateway that was under the control of the rebels . ( ) In late 2372 , the " Defiant " took Odo to the Founder ' s new homeworld , where he was to be judged for killing the Krajensky changeling the previous year . The Female Changeling allowed the vessel to personally transport him to the Founder ' s homeworld , so long as one of her pilots entered the coordinates for the planet and wiped them from the ship ' s memory afterwards . While the vessel was in orbit , Garak unsuccessfully attempted to use the " Defiant " s weapons to attack the Great Link , but he was caught and prevented from doing so by Worf . ( ) In early 2373 , the " Defiant " tractored a Jem ' Hadar fighter captured by Captain Sisko back to Federation space . ( ) A few weeks later , Captain Sisko took the " Defiant " to Ajilon Prime to get his son , Jake , off the front lines of the Federation ' s war with the Klingons . ( ) The " Defiant " was later transported to the 23rd century , where it encountered the original visiting Deep Space K - 7 in 2268 . The " Defiant " s crew stopped Arne Darvin from killing Captain James T . Kirk with a bomb implanted in a dead Tribble . ( ) The " Defiant " subsequently rescued Odo and Quark from an L - class planet their runabout had crashed on after being sabotaged by the Orion Syndicate . ( ) While pursuing Maquis defector Michael Eddington , the " Defiant " was disabled by a cascade virus that Eddington had installed in the ship ' s computers during his time as DS9 ' s Starfleet security chief . The vessel had to be towed back to DS9 by the . When that vessel was later disabled by the Maquis , Captain Sisko used the damaged " Defiant " to continue pursuing Eddington . After Sisko poisoned a Maquis planet , Eddington surrendered to Sisko and was incarcerated . ( ) Under the command of Worf , the " Defiant " was finally used for what the vessel had originally been designed : fighting the Borg . In the Battle of Sector 001 in mid - 2373 , the " Defiant " assaulted an invading Borg cube from the Typhon sector to Earth and took severe damage . Worf was about to order the ship to ram the cube when the rescued the vessel ' s survivors , leaving the " Defiant " unmoored though salvageable . Aboard the " Enterprise " , the " Defiant " and " Enterprise " crews followed a Borg sphere to 2063 shortly after the cube ' s destruction , to stop the Borg from sabotaging Zefram Cochrane ' s first warp flight . ( ) Following these events , the " Defiant " was repaired and returned to DS9 . ( ) When the Dominion annexed the Cardassian Union and invaded the Alpha Quadrant , the " Defiant " was forced to destroy the runabout , which had been commandeered by a Changeling posing as Doctor Julian Bashir . The runabout was carrying a trilithium weapon which was to be detonated in the Bajoran sun , destroying the entire system . ( ) In late 2373 , the " Defiant " became trapped inside a temporal distortion surrounding a planet in the Gamma Quadrant . The planet was inhabited by descendants of the " Defiant " crew , who revealed that the vessel would crash while attempting to escape the distortion . The " Defiant " crew and the planet ' s inhabitants worked to formulate a plan that would allow the " Defiant " to escape back into normal space , while simultaneously creating a second ship that would crash on the planet and land 200 years in the past , thus ensuring the inhabitants ' survival . However , it was discovered that the plan would fail and that Yedrin Dax was deliberately setting up the " Defiant " to crash . The crew eventually planned to allow this event to take place , but was stopped by an elderly version of Odo , who was living on the planet ' s surface ; he changed the ship ' s flight plan so that it would avoid the distortion that would otherwise have sent them back in time . The " Defiant " returned to DS9 and the colonists were found to have never existed . ( ) Service during the Dominion War . In an effort to stop the Dominion ' s military build - up in Cardassian space , Starfleet Command opted to mine the entrance to the Bajoran wormhole , a move that was virtually guaranteed to lead to war . Despite coming under fire by Dominion forces , the " Defiant " was able to successfully deploy the minefield and evacuate Deep Space 9 ' s Starfleet personnel before the Dominion took control of the station . ( ) For the next several months , the " Defiant " fought as part of the Second Fleet , operating out of Starbase 375 . When Captain Sisko was made an adjutant to Vice Admiral William Ross , Lt . Commander Jadzia Dax was assigned to captain the vessel . Under Dax ' s command , the " Defiant " destroyed a Dominion sensor array hidden in the Argolis Cluster . ( ) Sisko returned to the captain ' s chair of the " Defiant " to lead Operation Return in mid - 2374 . The vessel resumed its assignment at Deep Space 9 after the station was retaken . ( ) The " Defiant " was part of a search effort to look for survivors of the , after the latter vessel was destroyed by Cardassian forces . Upon completion of that mission , the ship was immediately assigned to escort a Federation troop convoy near the Badlands . ( ) While studying a subspace compression anomaly in mid - 2374 , the " Defiant " was taken over by Jem ' Hadar forces . Thanks to the efforts of the " Defiant " crew combined with work by the , the starship was retaken and the surviving Jem ' Hadar were taken to a Federation prisoner of war camp . ( ) The " Defiant " rescued survivors from the , which likewise belonged to the " Defiant " - class , later that year . ( ) Upon completion of a convoy escort mission , the " Defiant " responded to a distress call from Captain Lisa Cusak , who was commanding the . The " Olympia " had crashed on an L - class planet in the Rutharian sector of the Beta Quadrant . Upon arrival at the planet , the " Defiant " crew found an energy barrier surrounding the planet which had carried Cusak ' s distress call forward through time ; Cusak had been dead three years . Her body was taken back to DS9 and a memorial service was held for her by the crew . ( ) The " Defiant " , along with the , led the Federation Alliance fleet at the First Battle of Chin ' toka , in late 2374 . The crew of the " Defiant " found a way to disable a deployment of Cardassian orbital weapon platform s protecting the Chin ' toka system . ( ) Under Worf ' s command , the " Defiant " spent the next several months on convoy duty . ( ) In early 2375 , the " Defiant " made a supply run to AR - 558 , a planetoid in the Chin ' toka system under heavy siege by the Jem ' Hadar . The " Defiant " crew provided a small reinforcement of the planetoid and helped disable many houdini s that had been plaguing Federation troops stationed there . ( ) The " Defiant " later served as part of a search effort to look for survivors of the , which had been destroyed by Dominion forces in the Badlands . The " Defiant " managed to recover six escape pod s , but was forced to call off its search for the " Koraga " s captain , Worf , after only three days , due to heavy Jem ' Hadar patrols in the area . ( ) The " Defiant " s short but illustrious career came to an end in mid - 2375 . Shortly after joining the war on the side of the Dominion , the Breen retook the Chin ' toka system using a new form of energy dampening weapon . The " Defiant " , along with 310 other allied vessels , was destroyed during the battle . ( ) The was assigned to DS9 to replace the " Defiant " after its destruction . Captain Sisko was granted special dispensation by the Chief of Starfleet Operations to rename the " Sao Paulo " to " " Defiant " " in honor of this " tough little ship . " ( ) Unique characteristics . Ablative armor . The " Defiant " was equipped with an ablative armor coating that was designed to disintegrate under enemy fire at a controlled rate . It dissipated the effects of directed energy weapons , decreasing damage to the main hull of the ship and therefore providing an extra layer of defense . As late as 2372 , Starfleet wasn ' t informed that the " Defiant " was equipped in that way . ( ) Cloaking device . After the Dominion threat emerged in late 2370 , a special amendment made to the Treaty of Algeron allowed the " Defiant " to be equipped with a Romulan cloaking device . In exchange for providing the cloaking device , the Federation agreed to share all of its Dominion intelligence with the Romulan government . Additionally , the cloak was only authorized for use in the Gamma Quadrant , although Captain Sisko violated this provision on numerous occasions . Use of the cloaking device was initially supervised by Sub - Commander T ' Rul , although the Romulans later discontinued supervision . ( ) Because of the amount of power the " Defiant " used , the cloak did not completely hide the ship from Jem ' Hadar sensors during normal operation . ( ) Command crew . The " Defiant " s permanent assignment at Deep Space 9 as a support vessel meant that it had no specific or dedicated crew complement . The vessel was manned by station personnel ; its crew complement , as well as their assignments , often varied by mission . Appendices . Appearances . " The " Defiant " appears in all " Deep Space Nine " episode title sequences starting with Season 4 and beyond . " Background information . Origins . The invention of the USS " Defiant " was preceded by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe discussing , for some time , the possibility of giving the main characters of a method to leave space station Deep Space 9 " en masse " . " " We wanted a ship in which we could send more people out on an adventure , " " explained Wolfe , " " and we ' d never really figured out how to do it . " " ( " " , p . 158 ) The main reason for the creation of the " Defiant " was that Ira Steven Behr and the other writers felt the runabout s would not be able to protect the space station from the Dominion , and that something with more muscle was necessary . In the second season finale , the Dominion had shown themselves capable of destroying a starship ( the ) and it was felt that viewers would not accept the idea that the Federation ' s first line of defense against such a powerful enemy was three runabouts . Behr remembered , " " At one point , Robert Wolfe and I were sitting around after the ' Jem ' Hadar ' episode had been filmed . We were looking at dailies and said , ' Jesus , we ' re blowing up " Galaxy " Class starships ; these guys are tough , and all we have are these freaking runabouts ' [ . . . ] We had to come up with a ship to combat [ the Dominion ] . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 79 ) As Behr additionally explained , " " We had all these plans for this Dominion , not so much the Dominion War yet , but the Dominion as a three - pronged attack , and what were we going to go after them with ? Shuttlecraft s ? You know , I mean , with the " Galileo " or whatever the hell those names were ? You know , it just seemed ridiculous . So we needed a ship . " " Similarly , Production Designer Herman Zimmerman stated , " " We needed a ship that would give the writers the opportunity to have more direct conflict . " " ( USS " Defiant " , DS9 Season 3 DVD special features ) He also commented , " " The " Defiant " was a direct result of the need on the part of the writer / producers of the show to get away from the station , to give them a vehicle that would allow them to travel at higher warp speeds than the Runabout [ . . . ] is capable of , and to carry more armament and more personnel . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 96 ) Additionally , Zimmerman said , " " We knew at the end of second season that the story lines were going in a direction that required a larger ship , with armament and much more warp - speed capability , and the ability to hold a larger crew . " " ( " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , paperback ed . , p . 189 ) Illustrator Jim Martin reported , " " They wanted a starship that could be based at " Deep Space Nine " that was kind of an ass - kicker that they could have some fun with . They wanted a fighting ship . " " ( " " , No . 7 ) Wolfe specified , " " Bringing in the " Defiant " was based on our own internal perceptions of something that would make the show better . It was not based on ratings . " " ( " " , p . 158 ) The " Defiant " was originally envisioned , by the DS9 producers , as " a beefy runabout . " ( " " , p . 162 ) Feeling the need for a ship assigned to protect the space station , Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe approached then - Executive Producer Michael Piller with their idea . Related Behr , " " We [ . . . ] said , ' We need something with teeth to it so it doesn ' t seem ridiculous that this space station is the only thing between the Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 79 ) Talking with Piller in his office , Behr additionally told him , " " We know " " is coming and there will be problems , but we need a ship . Doesn ' t have to be a ship that ' s as good as " Voyager " . Doesn ' t have to be a starship – we need a kick - ass ship . " " Though Piller became temporarily side - tracked with addressing another issue , Behr expressed the need for a ship once again , to which Piller finally replied , " " Absolutely , let ' s talk to Rick [ Berman ] . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 102 ) Piller felt it didn ' t matter much whether DS9 ' s regular characters had a starship at their disposal , or merely their contingent of Runabouts . However , he was ultimately willing to concede to the request of the former , motivated by a criticism of the series – due to its station - bound setting – that the producers often heard . " " The addition of the " Defiant " , " " he explained , " " was a direct result of , ' It doesn ' t go anywhere ' [ . . . ] I came out of that meeting and said , ' I ' ve had it . They want a ship , we ' ll give them a ship . ' We felt it was a fake criticism and said , ' Let ' s just get rid of it . " " ( ) Piller ' s advice to speak with Berman was because he might have concerns due to the fact the starship " Voyager " was about to also be introduced . ( " " , p . 158 ) As it turned out , Michael Piller himself brought the idea to Rick Berman ' s attention . At this point , the general idea was still for the craft to be a kind of runabout , larger than the others . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 96 ) Berman did indeed have some worries , though Ira Behr addressed them by saying , " " It ' s a different show , it ' s a different ship , and we need something cool , something " DS9 " - specific . " " ( " " , p . 158 ) In hindsight , Behr explained , " " It couldn ' t be like " Voyager " . And I didn ' t know what " Voyager " was going to be at the time . I said , ' Fine , let ' s give it something only " Deep Space Nine " has . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 102 ) Although there was initial opposition to the subsequent request for the ship to have a cloaking device , Behr and Robert Wolfe managed to convince Berman that the " Defiant " was a unique ship in a unique situation and , with the added stipulation that the cloak could only be used in the Gamma Quadrant , Berman agreed , so the vessel was approved . ( " " , p . 158 ) The design direction of creating the " Defiant " as a larger form of runabout was soon revised . The craft was – from that point on – redesigned as a starship rather than a runabout . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 96 ) When Ronald D . Moore and René Echevarria left and joined the DS9 writing staff in its third season , they were told about the plans for the new ship . " " When Ron and Rene came on we all sat down and talked about it as a group , " " remembered Robert Wolfe . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 112 ) Establishing the " Defiant " became Moore ' s responsibility , as he was tasked with scripting the " Defiant " s introduction in season three premiere . Recalled Moore , " " They told me , ' We ' ve got this ship ! ' And I said , ' You ' ve got " what " ? But this show ' s about a " station " . I just " left " a ship ! " " Ira Behr and Robert Wolfe responded by explaining that the new craft was to be a tougher kind of starship than the , not a large exploratory vessel with families on board . ( " " , p . 158 ) Subsequently , the ship inspired Moore . Observed Behr , " " [ He ] got all excited at the thought of this [ . . . ] Ron was ecstatic , ' cause he got to play with the " Defiant . " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 102 ) Naming the newly conceived vessel was one of the first tasks Ron Moore had to do , as he began work on the script for " The Search , Part I " . " " They ' d graciously left [ naming the craft ] to me , " " he remarked . Moore originally wanted to call the " Defiant " the USS " Valiant " ( based on either the or the from ) . The producers didn ' t allow him to use that name for the new ship , as the USS " Voyager " s name also begins with a " V " . It was Moore who instead selected the name " Defiant " ( inspired by the from ) . ( " " , p . 158 ) This was three years before Moore was able to name a ship " Valiant " ; the appears in the sixth season episode . As well as liking the name " Defiant " , Ron Moore believed it required some backstory , wondering , " " Why would you name a ship the " Defiant " ? " " The writers soon devised the backstory about the vessel having been constructed as an attempt to defy the Borg . ( " " , p . 158 ) Making the " Defiant " a warship seemed to fit the grittiness of " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " . ( " " , p . 162 ) However , the craft couldn ' t seem too militaristic for the Federation . " " That was one of the problems and something we had to discuss , " " reflected Ira Behr . " " We really wanted this to be a ship that went out there to fight , no science , no searching . This was ' Uh oh , they ' re bigger than we are and they ' re coming to get us . Let ' s ram it down their throats . ' We had to pull back a little on that [ . . . ] But when you meet people , like the Borg or the Romulan s , it does pay to have a ship that can do some damage . It ' s still considered a fighting ship . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 102 ) Consequently , the revised " Deep Space Nine " bible ( dated 1 August 1994 ) referred to the " Defiant " as having been " originally built as a warship designed to fight the Borg . " ( " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , p . 189 ) The scientific capabilities of the craft were planned to be less - equipped than the likes of the " Enterprise " or " Voyager " . " " We always said , " " Robert Wolfe recollected , " " that the " Defiant " wasn ' t good at certain things – that there ' s a cost for designing a pure warship , and why doesn ' t the Federation just crank out thousands of these things ? [ . . . ] The " Defiant " was just meant to go around and shoot at people , and that ' s a bit of a drawback when you ' re going into [ something like ] a difficult atmospheric situation . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 109 ) The idea the " Defiant " had been " hastily put together in the face of the Borg threat , " as phrased by Science Consultant André Bormanis , helped to account for the fact that tight budget constraints limited the amount of sets which could be built for the ship . " " [ It ] was a fair enough justification , " " opined René Echevarria . ( " " , p . 162 ) André Bormanis liked how the " Defiant " , with its technological problems due to being a prototype , departed from " the concept that all Federation technology was squeaky clean and perfect . " ( " " , p . 162 ) Herman Zimmerman explained , " " Because it ' s a prototype , it has a certain quirkiness as any high - speed prototype aircraft would have . You don ' t know exactly how it will react in a given situation . " " Ira Behr wanted the " Defiant " to be a " fun " environment , remarking , " " We ' re hoping that we get that with the " Defiant . " Jim Martin , who designed the vessel , commented , " " The " Defiant " was special . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , pp . 96 & 97 ) Zimmerman stated , " " The " Defiant " was a big boost for the show ' s bag of tricks . " " Robert Wolfe observed , " " We ' ve opened up the ability to go off the station , something we obviously needed to do , not just to establish the ' bad guys ' in the Gamma quadrant , but just the Gamma quadrant as a whole – to make it a place with a real sense of depth where we need to spend some time . " " ( " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , paperback ed . , p . 189 ) Various rumors circulated about the origins of the " Defiant " . Noted Ira Behr , " " I ' ve heard all types of rumors about the " Defiant . " Many fans suspected the craft was invented by Ron Moore or René Echevarria , and that the writers wanted a ship on which to set more stories like those of TNG , despite the vessel actually predating the addition of Moore and Echevarria to the DS9 writing staff . Responding to such opinions , Robert Wolfe said , " " The truth of the matter is the " Defiant " was an attempt to correct a deficiency in the runabouts [ . . . ] It wasn ' t that we have to be like " Next Gen " . We were doing those kinds of stories on DS9 anyway . We just wanted to do what we do better and a ship will help us do that . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 102 ) The craft turned out to be popular with fans . ( ) Uses in stories . The DS9 writing staff swiftly realized that imagining the " Defiant " as " a unique little warship that was overpowered and overgunned " could generate dynamic stories in future installments . ( " " , p . 158 ) As Ira Behr noted , " " That got us through the first couple of [ third season ] episodes . " " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 79 ) Indeed , the addition of the " Defiant " to the series created many new storytelling possibilities . " " First , it meant the crew could have a different set of adventures off the station . It also made it easier to shoot scenes with more people inside a bigger vessel , rather than in the cramped quarters of those little runabouts , " " stated Terry Farrell , with a laugh . " " And finally , it allowed Sisko to truly live up to those immortal words spoken by two other , famous captains before him – ' To boldly go where no - one has gone before . " " ( , " Deep Space Nine Chronicles " , DS9 Season 4 DVD special features ) On the other hand , Michael Piller remarked about the " Defiant " , " " It didn ' t change any of our character arcs or anything . " " ( ) Although the producers chose to include no spotlights on the outer hull of the " Defiant " - class , the " Defiant " was lit with spotlights for the ship ' s debut , in . Describing how this was done , Gary Hutzel said , " " We hooked a mag light on a C - stand arm that was connected directly to the camera head , so that it rocked and rolled with the model . Then we designed the shot to display some of the ship ' s better angles as it backed away and turned around . " " When the " Defiant " leaves Deep Space 9 on its maiden voyage through the wormhole , the ship ' s name is brightly illuminated . ( " " , pp . 162 - 163 ) This shot was later reused in numerous DS9 installments . By the end of , the writers had given up on the idea of the " Defiant " using its cloaking device and didn ' t expect to use it ever again . Director of Photography Jonathan West was even told , " " We ' ll never be cloaked again ; this is just for the first show . " " Ron Moore recalled , " " It wasn ' t until a few episodes later that we decided to say it was still there . " " ( " " , p . 163 ) Upon starting to write the story for the episode , one of the first ideas Ron Moore had was the starship " Defiant " being stolen by Thomas Riker . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 4 / 5 , p . 98 ; " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 87 ) The notion quickly occurred to him while he was writing the story of " Defiant " ; the ship was the answer to Moore asking himself what would motivate the Maquis , led by Tom Riker , to visit Deep Space 9 . ( " " , p . 190 ) " " I had the whole stealing of the " Defiant " sequence before I even knew why he was stealing it , " " Moore commented . " " I thought that would be a great way to open an episode . " " By the time production on " Defiant " was over , Jonathan West was becoming familiar with filming on the " Defiant " . " " He asked for some changes in terms of paint schemes and lighting , and now it was pretty together , " " remembered David Livingston . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , pp . 87 & 88 ) When the writing staff was trying to select a " contained " setting for third season finale , the " Defiant " provided a useful environment . Robert Wolfe remembered that the idea of the ship " " heading inexplicably toward destruction , like the death machine that she really is , being all locked down and going like a runaway train , became the basic hook that everyone really liked . " " However , turning the " Defiant " into " a runaway train " proved neither as simple nor cheap as it sounded , as it required the expense of creating an engine room for the vessel . ( " " , pp . 250 & 251 ) The DS9 staff writers were pleased with how the " Defiant " was established during its first season and how it opened up narrative possibilities for later stories . At the end of DS9 Season 3 , Ron Moore reflected , " " The " Defiant " has developed nicely over the course of the year [ . . . ] and now we have a fully functioning starship . " " René Echevarria agreed , " " We can do a shipboard episode if we want and cut back to the station for a B story . We really feel we have the best of all possible worlds with the " Defiant " . We ' re freed up . " " Producer Hans Beimler , who joined the writing staff for the fourth season , remarked , " " The addition of the " Defiant " has given us the ability to every once in a while do a show that ' s dynamically similar to " Next Generation . " ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , pp . 99 & 101 ) In , freelance writer David Mack suggested to his writing partner , John J . Ordover , an unusual way of using the " Defiant " , inspired by the German submarine drama . Mack subsequently recalled , " " I [ . . . ] said , ' I ' d like to sink the " Defiant " . ' Those were my exact words . " " As Ordover joined in the process of working out the story , the conditions in which the vessel would find itself continued to develop . " " We came up with the high concept of the " Defiant " getting into a conflict in orbit over a planet , being damaged , and plunging down into an alien sea where it sinks like a rock , " " remembered Mack . The writers imagined the craft sinking to a depth hundreds of kilometers underwater . They intended to set up the risk that " the ship runs out of power and the structural integrity field collapses , and the ship is crushed like an egg . " When the notion of a pricey underwater show was deemed unviable , the ship ' s threatening surroundings were changed to the atmosphere of a gas giant , complete with a scene showing the " Defiant " temporarily being flooded with gas rather than water . ( " " , pp . 282 & 283 ) The " Defiant " is indirectly referenced in the title of the episode , DS9 Season 4 ' s , which was still thought of as " a submarine movie " by the in - house writing staff . They also wanted to deliver on what they had planned for the starship , portraying it as having some weaknesses . " " We wanted to show the " Defiant " in action and pushed to its limits , " " said Robert Wolfe . Having the ship encounter " a difficult atmospheric situation " served this intent well , as " Voyager " or the " Enterprise " would have had no problem in similar circumstances , whereas the relatively under - equipped warship " Defiant " was shown to struggle . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 109 ) A three - second shot of the " Defiant " in battle , from " The Way of the Warrior " , was reused and re - composited by Glenn Neufeld for part of a combat sequence in . ( " " , p . 302 ) Kira Nerys actress Nana Visitor once commented that " going out on the " Defiant " " was one of two main components that " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " became " about , " " doing battle " being the other . ( " " , p . 361 ) There was an ulterior motive for including the " Defiant " in . " " The " Defiant " appeared in FC as a way of bringing Worf into the film , " " clarified Ron Moore . Also , the inclusion of the ship allowed the film to address the fact that Worf was now assigned to the vessel . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 28 , No . 6 , p . 30 ) The fate of the " Defiant " in the aftermath of " First Contact " s Battle of Sector 001 became controversial after Ira Steven Behr read an early draft of the movie ' s script , which was collaboratively written by Moore and Brannon Braga . " " Somehow , " " recalled Moore , " " we had implied that , like , the " Defiant " was destroyed or something [ . . . ] We didn ' t mean to destroy the " Defiant . " Behr was nonetheless extremely upset that the writers hadn ' t made it clear the ship was not destroyed . The annihilation of the vessel would prove needless in a story that didn ' t even involve the " Deep Space Nine " characters ( apart from Worf ) and inconvenient for the television show . " " I said , ' So , what did you think ? ' And he just [ . . . ] ranted at me for destroying the " Defiant " , " " Moore continued , with a laugh . " " And it was really his only note on the whole script . So we went back [ to the script ] . We were very careful that the " Defiant " actually did [ survive ] . " " ( audio commentary , / ) Behr himself explained , " " I didn ' t see the point in bringing it on just to kick the crap out of it . " " The line " " tough little ship " " was added to the script after he had expressed his concerns . ( " " , p . 407 ) According to Anthony Pascale , a line suggesting the " Defiant " was " " adrift , but salvageable " " was also added to clear up any ambiguity . ( audio commentary , / ) No reference to the damage the " Defiant " received during the Battle of Sector 001 was ever made on " Deep Space Nine " ( although a brief reference was made to the battle itself in , when Sisko mentions " the recent Borg attack " ) . Though the viewers of DS9 would likely have preferred something as simple as a mention of recent repairs to the craft , Ira Behr wanted to forget about the ship ' s involvement in the film . ( " " , p . 407 ) In the final shot of DS9 fifth season installment , the " Defiant " slowly flies over and past the camera . " " I was planning on just doing a standard fly - by for that shot when we ran into some technical problems with the motion control rig , " " explained Gary Hutzel . " " The pan / tilt wasn ' t operating properly ; it was locked off at a downward angle as the camera drove past the ship . " " Hutzel chose to use the unusual shot provided by the malfunctioning technology and was ultimately very pleased with the footage . ( " " , p . 412 ) Maneuvers performed by the " Defiant " while damaged in were also done by Gary Hutzel , using motion control photography . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 29 , Nos . 6 / 7 , p . 45 ) In the story , the damage to the ship meant the vessel had to be operated manually . " " Great idea , " " Ira Behr happily remarked . " " I loved it . " " The writing staff wanted the environment aboard the craft to meanwhile seem like that on board a submarine in a submarine movie , such as in , which the writers repeatedly discussed as a point of reference for conditions on the " Defiant " . ( " " , p . 420 ) When Gary Holland originally devised a story that eventually served as the basis for , he imagined the " Defiant " crash landing on a planet where the ship ' s crew met their ancestors . The story was rewritten , with the vessel referred to as having instead crash landed in the past , on a planet named Gaia . ( " " , p . 452 ) In the interim between the fifth and sixth seasons , Ira Behr planned using the " Defiant " in more episodes . " " We ' re going to be doing shows that take place on the " Defiant " , " " he promised . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 29 , Nos . 6 / 7 , p . 51 ) The day before " Call to Arms " entered production , Ron Moore likewise commented that the " Defiant " would be a setting for " some very interesting stuff " in the show ' s sixth season . Although René Echevarria initially devised the idea of a miniaturized runabout maneuvering inside Deep Space 9 in a story that became the episode , using the " Defiant " instead of the space station seemed to work better for teleplay writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson . " " When we came up with the idea of the " Defiant " getting taken over , and the little ship having to board it to rescue the rest of the crew , then we suddenly had a workable premise , " " Weddle explained . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 39 ) To prepare for the filming of " One Little Ship " scenes in which the runabout " Rubicon " was miniaturized inside the " Defiant " and shrunken officers from the " Rubicon " walked around the starship ' s innards , John Eaves produced at least three concept sketches of various parts of the " Defiant " . Also , David Weddle and Bradley Thompson – who were credited with writing " One Little Ship " , although the story idea didn ' t originate with them – spent many hours touring the " Defiant " sets , choreographing shots of the tiny runabout . ( " " , pp . 529 , 530 & 531 ) Sets they visited included the bridge and engineering . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 40 ; " " , p . 530 ) However , their tour of the sets wasn ' t as extensive as one carried out by Allan Kroeker , who directed the episode . " " He had taken the visual effects people through the corridors and places in the ship , and worked all of that out very , very carefully , " " offered Thompson . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 40 ) The " Defiant " eventually turned out to be the primary setting of too , that episode having originally been set ( at least mainly ) aboard Deep Space 9 . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 69 ) While writing Bashir - centric seventh season episode , Ron Moore opted not to use the " Defiant " as the installment ' s main setting ( which instead was the ) . " " For the piece to work , it couldn ' t be [ on ] the " Defiant " , because I didn ' t want the rest of our characters along for the ride , " " Moore explained . " " It would have given Bashir too many safe places to go . It had to be on another ship . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 32 , Nos . 4 / 5 , p . 76 ) In , the DS9 writing staff made the " Defiant " , even under Captain Sisko ' s command , unable to effect a rescue that a runabout , piloted by Ezri Dax , managed , carried by the Badlands ' currents . " " The " Defiant " is so big that even if he ' d thought of what she tries , the ship never would have followed the same path , " " René Echevarria reasoned . ( " " , p . 685 ) When the writers chose to destroy the " Defiant " in , they decided it was important to make the craft ' s annihilation emotionally effective . " " We wanted to do something that would be painful and gut - wrenching to everyone , " " Ira Behr remarked . Ron Moore added that the writers also " " wanted to kill " Defiant " as a statement on how tough the Breen were . We thought that would rock the characters and the audience . " " ( " " , pp . 689 & 693 ) The DS9 writing staff were pleased with how emotionally effecting they were able to depict the " Defiant " s destruction , making it as deep an emotional impact as the death of a regular character . " " It worked very well , " " Ira Behr declared . " " It wasn ' t the " Enterprise " , it wasn ' t " Voyager " , and it wasn ' t the basis of the show . But still , the ship had become a character that had caught on in people ' s hearts and minds . Even though we ' re not a " Star Trek " series that takes place on a ship , when the " Defiant " went down , that hurt . " " René Echevarria agreed , " " The death of the " Defiant " was quite striking – but at the same time , we didn ' t want to keep it dead forever . " " ( " " , pp . 693 & 689 - 690 ) Studio & CGI model . The CGI model of the " Defiant " was first used in . In the opening titles sequence for DS9 Seasons 4 to 7 , the " Defiant " was depicted using CGI , which allowed the visual effects artists to concentrate on filming the model without having to worry about accidentally showing the model mount , as they would have to have done if they had been using a practical studio model for the sequence . " " VisionArt did a wonderful job of matching the lighting where the ship comes out of the shadows behind one of the pylons , " " Dan Curry enthused . " " And using CGI allowed me to do a couple of moves with the " Defiant " that we couldn ' t have done with a model . " " ( " " , p . 335 ) The creative staff decided to represent the " Defiant " with CGI in " Star Trek : First Contact " . " " We could have shot the existing " Defiant " stage model , " " commented John Knoll , " " which we had on hand for the crew to use as reference . But [ . . . ] it was a more efficient distribution of our resources to do that ship in CG . " " Because VisionArt had already created a detailed CG model of the " Defiant " for its multiple appearances on " Deep Space Nine " , Knoll acquired the company ' s modeling data . New digital textures , based on transparencies taken of the studio model , were then mapped onto the pre - existing CG model . ( " Cinefex " , No . 69 , p . 109 ) " " They < nowiki > [ < / nowiki > Industrial Light & Magic < nowiki > ] < / nowiki > had to add a lot of battle damage to it , " " stated Illustrator John Eaves , " " because it ' s already been in the battle pretty heavily before it gets rescued [ on screen ] by the " Enterprise " - E . " " ( " The Art of " First Contact " " , / ) For the last shot in fifth season closer , filming the " Defiant " with the relevant studio model in conjunction with motion control technology would not have been possible . This was because the ship makes an almost - 180 - degree turn . ( " " , pp . 471 ) " " The intention was that the " Defiant " would go and join [ a ] [ . . . ] fleet [ . . . ] then turn around , " " explained René Echevarria . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 34 ) The visual effects artists , due to the " Defiant " s rotation , were unsure where to put the mount for holding the model to a stand , or where to lay all the dolly track they would have needed for the camera to move along , especially as no motion control soundstage was big enough to house as much dolly track as was required . Consequently , the ship was alternatively represented with CGI . Commenting on how the vessel joins a combined Starfleet - Klingon fleet in the footage , Visual Effects Supervisor David Stipes commentated , " " The " Defiant " comes in and it ' s like , ' Here we are . We ' ve joined the fleet and now we ' re gonna come back and kick fanny . " " Despite the difficulty of portraying the turnabout the " Defiant " makes to match the direction of the fleet , Visual Effects Coordinator Adam Buckner deemed it a necessary maneuver . " " We felt that it ought to be flying along with the fleet , that it would join it in the fight to retake the station , " " he explained . " " Otherwise , essentially , it would have sort of chugged up to the fleet and said , ' Hi , I ' m here ! ' That ' s a little less aesthetic , " " Buckner concluded , laughing . ( " " , pp . 471 & 472 ) For footage of Operation Return in season six outing , the " Defiant " was again portrayed with CGI and was the only example of its class to be included . Digitally modeling the craft meant the ship could thereafter be shown with the same method , whenever it was subsequently required . To create about a second of the vessel cruising through the wormhole in the same episode , the " Defiant " was depicted with the usual studio model , the only motion control element in the entire installment . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , pp . 64 & 66 ) The final moments of the " Defiant " in " The Changing Face of Evil " , with the craft beginning to burn but ejecting escape pods , were shown with CGI achieved by Digital Muse , supervised by David Stipes . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 32 , Nos . 4 / 5 , p . 74 ) Miscellaneous . The " Defiant " sets including the bridge , quarters , engineering , the mess hall , and the sickbay were built on Paramount Stage 18 . Speaking from the perspective of Jadzia Dax , Terry Farrell once said , laughing , " " I love the " Defiant " because I fly it . " " ( ) The , a vessel , was designed based on the configuration of the " Defiant " " Pathfinder " vehicle , registry NXP - 2365WP / T , found in the " " . Models and replicas of the USS " Defiant " have been produced by AMT / Ertl , Franklin Mint , and Furuta . Galoob released a Micro Machines miniature and Playmates Toys released small and large versions . Hallmark released two versions of the " Defiant " as Christmas ornaments . Corgi produced a prototype model of the " Defiant " in but this release was canceled before it reached production . In , the Japanese toy company F - Toys released two models of the " Defiant " which included a transparent " cloaked " version . Between 2011 and 2014 , WizKids released miniatures of the " Defiant " in its , , and games . In 2013 , Eaglemoss Collections released the " Defiant " as part of its , which was later released in Japan by De Agostini . Dairy Queen also produced a " Defiant " food toy premium and a " Defiant " game token was included in Screenlife ' s Star Trek Scene It ? game . The USS " Defiant " could be seen in the Discovery Science program " Ultra Science " ( an episode about time travel ) . An unused door signage for the " Defiant " was sold off on the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction on eBay . From the , " " The " Defiant " s registry number , NX - 74205 , is in honor of Gene Roddenberry ' s son , our friend Rod Roddenberry who worked with us as a member of the " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " art department . Rod ' s birthday is February 5 , 1974 . " " Apocrypha . In the novel " The 34th Rule " , the " Defiant " has a shuttlecraft called the " da Vinci " . Worf ' s first mission of the computer game " " involves Worf being left in command of the " Defiant " , trying to fight off a boarding party of Grigari troopers . The " Defiant " , as well as the in general , feature as playable ships in the tactical combat game " Dominion Wars " . In the video game " " , the " Defiant " appears in two levels based on Deep Space 9 . In addition , the " Defiant " appears in the game ' s last level , where it briefly visits an alternate timeline in which the Romulan Star Empire has conquered the Federation . The " Defiant " later helps the , the , the , and defeat a combined Xindi , Klingon , Romulan , Dominion , and Borg fleet . Also , the game " " features a mission depicting the " Defiant " s shakedown cruise under the command of Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko . The ship encounters Romulan Tal Shiar forces preparing to ambush a Vulcan scientist named within Federation space and , despite trying to evade them , is captured . The crew and the ship are rescued by a task force led by the USS " Enterprise " - D .