Type 18 shuttlepod The Type 18 shuttlepod was a type of Federation Starfleet warp - capable shuttlecraft s . Service history . In 2371 , when the prototype was sent into the Gamma Quadrant , she was equipped with at least one of these shuttlepods . Kira Nerys and Odo used the " Shuttle 01 " to escape a Jem ' Hadar attack . Odo piloted the shuttle to the in the Omarion Nebula . In a simulation run by the Vorta , Sisko and Bashir believed they had escaped the battle in a similar craft . ( ) In the same year , the subspace field coils of the warp drive of " Shuttle 01 " were used to create a subspace bubble around the Sword of Stars comet fragments as they passed through the Bajoran wormhole . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The designation " Type - 18 " was derived from both the and the " " . According to the " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine Technical Manual " , ( p . 137 ) the " Defiant " carried four of these shuttlepods . In addition to the crew of two , the shuttles could carry up to four passengers . They were armed with phaser weapons , and could be modified to carry other weapon systems . The pods were limited to impulse travel only , but could travel short distances at warp speeds when released from the mothership while it was at warp . This would contradict the fact that in " Destiny " it was clearly established that these ships had full warp drive capability . According to the " Star Trek Fact Files " , the warp nacelle s were truncated on both sides of the ship , towards the rear of the cockpit . The shuttles were equipped with sensor s and subspace communication s arrays . There were only two shuttlepods on the " Defiant " , and only the vessels were equipped with this design of auxiliary craft . The interior set of the shuttlepod was a reuse of the cockpit of the Federation attack fighter seen in the episode , which in turn was a heavily modified version from its previous use in as the of the Type 15 shuttlepod . According to a comparison chart drawn up by Gary Hutzel and Larry Nemecek , the length of the shuttlepod was 12 feet ( 3 . 7 meters ) . This was coincidentally the length Rick Sternbach set for the Type - 15 shuttlepod , the design of which was partly the basis for the Type - 18 shuttlepod , arguably making it about one quarter to one third too short . The " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine Technical Manual " states the dimensions as 4 . 5 × 3 . 1 × 1 . 8 meters . Studio model . The Type 18 shuttlepod was one of the few models in the " Star Trek " franchise that did not go through the usual design process , but rather originated as an improvised design . Doug Drexler recalled on his blog , " " Among the most mysterious of Starfleet shuttle pods , the miniature built for DS9 , and her pocket battleship the " Defiant " . To the best of my knowledge , this design did not originate in the art department . I spoke with Jim Martin yesterday , and he jogged my memory concerning a plan to wed a surplus boat hull to the TNG shuttlepod . In fact I remember the boat hull in the Marathon Mill quite clearly . This may be the bastard son of that scheme . " " Michael Okuda later explained why the model turned out to be the way it became , " " If I recall correctly , this shuttle was designed so the TNG shuttlepod could be used as an interior set , even though the exterior was different . " " The design was turned into a physical studio model by Gregory Jein , who incorporated a nice touch of having the model an articulated side hatch , which could be opened and closed . After its initial three DS9 third season appearances , the shuttlepod model was not called upon to make another appearance until sixth season episode . Much to the dismay of effects supervisor Gary Hutzel , it was discovered that the model had been stolen by then , which necessitated Hutzel to have Doug Drexler design a new shuttlepod , now to be conceived as a CGI model . The opportunity was used to give the new upgraded shuttlepod a smoother and more streamlined look for it to become the " Chaffee " - type shuttlepod .