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Description

Ported to OBJ from the game rip by DarkDrone from Star Trek Fleet Command (STFC). Based on the ECS Horizon as seen in ENT "Horizon." Original design by John Eaves; original CG filming model by Brandon MacDougal. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

Also known as the Roanoke class after the name of its lead ship, the pre-TOS era ECS J-class freighters were built and operated by the Earth Cargo Service (hence the ECS prefix) from roughly the start of the 22nd century onward. They were designed with separable cargo modules towed in series instead of the side mounted, latching rail cargo modules of the larger successor Y-class. Initially rated for only a 50-year service lifespan, with all sold off by ECS as they approached that deadline, many remained in service with new civilian owners for decades more thanks to extensive rebuilds and upgrades. Most were already out of service or had been scrapped as the pre-TOS timeframe neared its end. The last known former ECS J-class freighter still in use by any major shipping firm in known space was finally taken out of service by its owner due to its extreme age and scrapped at some point early in the TOS/TAS era, although independent owners and operators continued to use theirs for as long as they could get aftermarket parts to keep them in service. In some (fanon) threads of the Trek multiverse examples of independently owned and operated ECS J-class types would last as long as the early TMP era before they finally had to be retired due to their extreme age and lack of suitable replacement parts.

When originally built, the ECS J-class had a subspace displacement of about 30,000 tons unloaded. They could rate up to 855,000 tons mass in normal space when fully loaded. Their construction also included "light" polarized armor and two first-generation Earth built plasma cannon turrets for self defense, which were mounted on two of the three "hard points" that were common to all members of the ECS J-through-M design family (under and behind the "nose," on top and just behind the bridge, and in the top middle of the cargo container top latching rail). The latter were replaced first with defensive lasers and then with point-defense phasers as these weapons technologies became available for refitting, as well as successively improved energy shield generators. The polarized armor was never completely replaced, although much of it was removed and replaced with as much standard hull plating as possible by later owners as part of energy shield generator backfits -- partly because it was no longer need and partly in order to lighten overall mass. Single and three weapon armed versions were also available. Any of the three "hard points" could also be fitted with space mining tools -- such as large mining lasers, oversized waldos, and so on. As built the J-class had two Cochrane Warp Dynamics warp engines and were rated at a maximum speed of Warp 2. They could tow up to three ECS standard modular cargo containers attached in series behind it; modified models with beefier warp engines could tow more. Subsequent improvements and rebuilds in later decades, in particular the fitting of later and more powerful warp engines, not only upped their top speed to Warp 4 but also doubled the number of ECS type cargo containers they could tow from three to six. A small number of ECS J-class types in later decades were even modified to tow other types of cargo containers. Not all ECS J-class types received these upgrades, with some only receiving them in part, and there was even a small handful that ended their careers still pretty much in the same form as they were when first built save for routine in-service refitting.

This is canon due to its on-screen use in ENT "Horizon" and ENT "Twilight."

TRIVIA - The "J-class" moniker is a nod to the TOS class J cargo ship as mentioned in TOS "Mudd's Women," although never seen in the episode as filmed (retconned later for TOS-R). These were meant to be different by the ENT production staff, however, given that this design is considerably older, so the name was inverted to come up with "J-class."

Description

Ported to OBJ from the game rip by DarkDrone from Star Trek Fleet Command (STFC). Based on the ECS Horizon as seen in ENT "Horizon." Original design by John Eaves; original CG filming model by Brandon MacDougal. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

Also known as the Roanoke class after the name of its lead ship, the pre-TOS era ECS J-class freighters were built and operated by the Earth Cargo Service (hence the ECS prefix) from roughly the start of the 22nd century onward. They were designed with separable cargo modules towed in series instead of the side mounted, latching rail cargo modules of the larger successor Y-class. Initially rated for only a 50-year service lifespan, with all sold off by ECS as they approached that deadline, many remained in service with new civilian owners for decades more thanks to extensive rebuilds and upgrades. Most were already out of service or had been scrapped as the pre-TOS timeframe neared its end. The last known former ECS J-class freighter still in use by any major shipping firm in known space was finally taken out of service by its owner due to its extreme age and scrapped at some point early in the TOS/TAS era, although independent owners and operators continued to use theirs for as long as they could get aftermarket parts to keep them in service. In some (fanon) threads of the Trek multiverse examples of independently owned and operated ECS J-class types would last as long as the early TMP era before they finally had to be retired due to their extreme age and lack of suitable replacement parts.

When originally built, the ECS J-class had a subspace displacement of about 30,000 tons unloaded. They could rate up to 855,000 tons mass in normal space when fully loaded. Their construction also included "light" polarized armor and two first-generation Earth built plasma cannon turrets for self defense, which were mounted on two of the three "hard points" that were common to all members of the ECS J-through-M design family (under and behind the "nose," on top and just behind the bridge, and in the top middle of the cargo container top latching rail). The latter were replaced first with defensive lasers and then with point-defense phasers as these weapons technologies became available for refitting, as well as successively improved energy shield generators. The polarized armor was never completely replaced, although much of it was removed and replaced with as much standard hull plating as possible by later owners as part of energy shield generator backfits -- partly because it was no longer need and partly in order to lighten overall mass. Single and three weapon armed versions were also available. Any of the three "hard points" could also be fitted with space mining tools -- such as large mining lasers, oversized waldos, and so on. As built the J-class had two Cochrane Warp Dynamics warp engines and were rated at a maximum speed of Warp 2. They could tow up to three ECS standard modular cargo containers attached in series behind it; modified models with beefier warp engines could tow more. Subsequent improvements and rebuilds in later decades, in particular the fitting of later and more powerful warp engines, not only upped their top speed to Warp 4 but also doubled the number of ECS type cargo containers they could tow from three to six. A small number of ECS J-class types in later decades were even modified to tow other types of cargo containers. Not all ECS J-class types received these upgrades, with some only receiving them in part, and there was even a small handful that ended their careers still pretty much in the same form as they were when first built save for routine in-service refitting.

This is canon due to its on-screen use in ENT "Horizon" and ENT "Twilight."

TRIVIA - The "J-class" moniker is a nod to the TOS class J cargo ship as mentioned in TOS "Mudd's Women," although never seen in the episode as filmed (retconned later for TOS-R). These were meant to be different by the ENT production staff, however, given that this design is considerably older, so the name was inverted to come up with "J-class."