Deepcrush wrote:That being said, as others have covered. When the Dominion was on the offensive, the UFP needed every ship they could get on the front lines.
They could have done some/all of the upgrades when ships were pulled from the line for repairs though. If it's out of combat for 2 months because of damage, then they could have done some of the work to make them more combat effective when they return to the line. Adding the QT launchers (while leaving all other combat features the same) while the ship is under repair would make a huge difference in battle once it returns to the lines. Or slapping in some upgrade phasers, or better shields, etc...
Just look at what the US did to it's ships in WWII for example, they always got upgraded while under repair. Look at this for the USS Selfridge:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/357.htm
Completely changed the weapons layout and command spaces while the bow was rebuilt from torpedo damage.
Or a much earlier war example, the USS Tennessee shortly after Pearl Harbor:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/43f.htm
The caption for the second picture explains.
So yes, SF needed ships now, but if they are going back for repairs, they should have used the time to upgrade what they could to make the Excelsiors more effective. Supplies for the planned upgrades could have been prepared while the ship is in transit so that the time for the repair and upgrade time could be matched as closely as possible.