The Miranda, even in TNG form with beam phasers and better shields, was like taking a knife to a gun fight. It would be no better than taking Constitution 2. Miranda can't generate the power to have modern shields or structural integrity fields. They could have put armor on it, but thats like wearing a helmet while wearing flip flops and shorts on a motorcycle... Aa much i would love to see 1701A in this. The results would be similar.
Starfleet built its fleet out of these....and typically the Jem Hadar operated in three's. Miranda's Type 6/7 Phasers were woefully outdated even with upgrades and the shield system was not strong enough nor was the ship survivable without shields. The somewhat later Centaur Class performed much better as it had Type 8 Phasers from the Excelsior, better shields and was even more manoeuvrable. Centaur only was replaced with the Saber in the Escort role but even then they fought together during the Dominion War. Starfleet didn't even bother adding Ablative Armour to them....even that would have saved a lot of crew lives
I get the impression that the Miranda class was probably about equal to a Klingon Bird of Prey and performed fairly well right up to the Cardassian Border wars, but the Dominion War was a step too far: it could no longer be upgraded enough to remain competitive, unlike the Excelsior
@adamlee2111 The Miranda should have been used in support roles like USS Lantree was, troop transportation, Cargo etc. Combing Memory Beta I did find a Miranda that had a refit to include Pulse Phaser Cannons from the Defiant Class - I presume to replace the Type 7 Phaser Cannons on the Roll Bar. Even that upgrade would greatly improve the Miranda in combat. The Excelsior class had its own problems in that for the ships size it wasn't that powerful any more. The Excelsior needed to be retired following the war where it did well enough but needed a replacement, The Miranda needed to go long before - if they were still fully crewed that's 200 plus people per Miranda 😢 compared to 40 on a Saber Class and 80 on a Nova Class (Both Classes were stronger in combat than the Miranda - a Science vessel beating you is a clear sign of obsolescence)
The Miranda, even in TNG form with beam phasers and better shields, was like taking a knife to a gun fight. It would be no better than taking Constitution 2. Miranda can't generate the power to have modern shields or structural integrity fields. They could have put armor on it, but thats like wearing a helmet while wearing flip flops and shorts on a motorcycle...
Aa much i would love to see 1701A in this. The results would be similar.
Starfleet built its fleet out of these....and typically the Jem Hadar operated in three's. Miranda's Type 6/7 Phasers were woefully outdated even with upgrades and the shield system was not strong enough nor was the ship survivable without shields. The somewhat later Centaur Class performed much better as it had Type 8 Phasers from the Excelsior, better shields and was even more manoeuvrable. Centaur only was replaced with the Saber in the Escort role but even then they fought together during the Dominion War. Starfleet didn't even bother adding Ablative Armour to them....even that would have saved a lot of crew lives
I get the impression that the Miranda class was probably about equal to a Klingon Bird of Prey and performed fairly well right up to the Cardassian Border wars, but the Dominion War was a step too far: it could no longer be upgraded enough to remain competitive, unlike the Excelsior
@adamlee2111 The Miranda should have been used in support roles like USS Lantree was, troop transportation, Cargo etc. Combing Memory Beta I did find a Miranda that had a refit to include Pulse Phaser Cannons from the Defiant Class - I presume to replace the Type 7 Phaser Cannons on the Roll Bar. Even that upgrade would greatly improve the Miranda in combat. The Excelsior class had its own problems in that for the ships size it wasn't that powerful any more. The Excelsior needed to be retired following the war where it did well enough but needed a replacement, The Miranda needed to go long before - if they were still fully crewed that's 200 plus people per Miranda 😢 compared to 40 on a Saber Class and 80 on a Nova Class (Both Classes were stronger in combat than the Miranda - a Science vessel beating you is a clear sign of obsolescence)
Proof that Mirandas are awesome and shouldve fared better during the Dominion war