There are 24 active users currently online.
Khitomer Class Experimental Starship
KFX-1 Synergetic Concept & Design Retrospective
Writer & Illustrator:
Michael Alexander
Copyright:
1993
Summary:
KFX-1 (KHITOMER CLASS) HISTORY AND RETROSPECTIVE
A bold new plan began at the onset of the United Federation of Planets' and the Imperial Klingon Empire's first ten years of alliance. The Primary Peacekeeping Coalition of the alliance did a study of technology-sharing between the two factions. The main focus was on investigating the concept of joint starship construction. It was hoped that a formal "go ahead" announcement would be made at the Ten Years of Alliance Conference on Organia.
The project was titled KFX-1, but the initial ship was to be named Khitomer in honor of where the foundation of the Alliance was forged. Two avant-garde teams were chosen to undertake the project. K'Tyzakt Starcraft Bureau represented the Klingon Empire and the Solaris Corporation, the Federation. The general configuration of the vessel would be Klingon but with new direction from Solaris. K'Tyzakt had been hard-pressed by the Empire to design a replacement for their aging K'Vort class. This precarious attempt to combine technologies would produce a proof-of-concept vehicle for similar future projects.
Compromises in design parameters were the most difficult to achieve. It also was an exercise in cross-cultural diplomacy. Selection of K'Tyzakt and Solaris showed good foresight. There was insistence on interfacing noncontroversial generic technology from the heads of the alliance. This was implemented to the fullest extent, but unknown intangibles created new discoveries in warp field dynamics from the combined teams.
The standard Klingon leading spheroid/boom design was mated to a new enclosed wing/body design from Solaris. The close pairing of the jointly designed LNX-89 warp engines during computer simulations showed great promise.
Espionage from unrecognized subfactions of the Federation and Klingon Empire (supposedly with no connection to high officials)plagued the KFX-1 project. Security self-imposed by the KFX-1 team, discovered spies from both sides. The scandal caused massive disruption of the project. Solaris and K'Tyzakt personnel were willing to continue working together and look beyond the incident, but the Primary Peacekeeping Coalition decided against it and canceled the project. The Treaty of Alliance was too frail to withstand any additional damage as a result of distrust and deceit.
Acknowledgement was given to the project for the courageous attempt to improve the status of the alliance. It was announced at the Ten Years of Alliance Conference that joint starship construction is a prophecy that can be fulfilled. More trust and cooperation, however, were required before a project of such magnitude would ever again be attempted. Due to the forged camaraderie, Solaris and K'Tyzakt personnel made a pact to collaborate again under better circumstances. Some design theorems of the KFX-1 were eventually used over a decade later in another joint venture: the KFX-2.
Comments
Click on any thumbnail image below to enlarge
Download the PDF (3mb)
- View more Star Trek Blueprints and Schematics -
