Runabouts---How useful are they?

[Mark]

The Starfleet Runabout. Essentially an enhanced shuttlecraft designed for midrange missions, recon, scouting, initial exploration and surveys.

In reality though, they seem undersized, underpowered, and rather "delicate" for being assigned as the primary means of transportation for an early DS9. They were used in every capacity from personal conveyance (somehow getting one safely to Cardassia which was still an enemy homeworld and back undetected), to defense (we see them deployed against Maquis ships, and even sent out along with Defiant and Dukats captured BoP against a Dominion fleet)

However, these ships seems to either crash or blow up with alarming regularity, so much so that were I a Starfleet Officer, I'd be leery as hell about using one.

What is your opinion of these little ships?

[Mikey]

What's the alternative? Seriously, that's my opinion of them. Shuttles are too small and slow to be used for serious travel, and you can't have true starships attached to a deep space station in the back of beyond just waiting to act as water taxis.

[Mark]

Well, first thing that came to my mind is an older starship. They've got these old Oberths, Mirandas, and Excelsiors in mothball. Converting one and installing some automation systems seems like a better idea than an enhanced shuttle, to me at least.

[stitch626]

Runabouts take up less space and require less crew to operate than any other Starship. They are larger, more powerful, faster, and more suitable for long range travel than any shuttle. They take the best of both worlds for their purpose.

[Mikey]

Yep. A stripped and re-tooled Oberth wouldn't be greatly more capable than a runabout, and would cost probably 3 - 5 times as much in resources... never mind the fact that a station could stow and maintain 3 - 5 runabouts for every one Oberth. Plus, as Stitch said, you don't need to maintain a crew for a runabout.

[McAvoy]

Also they magically fit within DS9's runabout pads.

So the runabouts fit within the slow and weak shuttles and a full blown starship. Runabouts are 'cheap' and easily replaced where as a starship isn't. Even an old one that may have been pulled out of mothballs.

Then again, seems like DS9 did well with the Defiant.

[Tyyr]

I think the concept of the runabout was solid. A longer ranged, more capable shuttle. The problem is how they were used by DS9, not as larger shuttles but as mini starships. Something like the Raven would have fit what DS9's writers wanted better than the runabouts.

[Captain Seafort]

I think the concept of the runabout was solid. A longer ranged, more capable shuttle. The problem is how they were used by DS9, not as larger shuttles but as mini starships. Something like the Raven would have fit what DS9's writers wanted better than the runabouts.

True, but IU they fit very well - all DS9 needed was something to potter about the system, with occasional short interstellar journeys. Anything bigger would have been a waste of time. In any event, the runabouts didn't do so badly. They lost a few, but they usually kept their passengers alive even if the ship was a write-off

[McAvoy]

The best real world example I can think of off of the top of my head was in the late 1870's to 1880's that some battleships carried their own torpedo boat. Much larger than their own supply of boats and carried their own armament of torpedoes and even small guns.

You could perhaps say the same thing with WW1 to WW2 ships carrying their own planes for spotting or even shooting down other spotter planes.

There were other ships like dispatch vessels that were lighyl armed and fast but resembled more like a yacht than anything.

Perhaps the Runabout is like a C-130, could be cargo plane but than have the gunship version which just kicks ass.

[Lighthawk]

The Runabouts were fine for what they were meant for. The problem is how often they were used for tasks that should have gone to a full sized ship and not to an extended cab shuttle. That they managed to pull off any of those big ship jobs speaks well of them.

[McAvoy]

I agree.

DS9 obvious should have shuttles at the very least. You do need your own mode of transportation to Bajor than hitching a ride on someone else's ship or even if they had their own ship in the very beginning it made no sense to tie up your ship for transportation to wherever.

But what gets me is using the runabouts in basically exploration missions in the Gamma Quadrant.

[Mark]

Not when you've got ships like the Galaxy class designed for that very type of exploration.

[McAvoy]

I agree even then you have plenty of much larger ships with probably better equipment than a runabout even if the Galaxy class is in limited numbers. Though that would be a perfect mission for a Galaxy or Nebula class.

[Tsukiyumi]

Though that would be a perfect mission for a Galaxy or Nebula class.

You'd think so, right up until the Odyssey exploded.

[Mark]

That only happened because they didn't have Wesley at the helm. HE could have figured out a way to get the shield working, increase phaser power, and redesign the ships warp field to dodge at the last second.