IKS JoH'a vo' Qul

After the destruction of the USS Defiant, Starfleet design firms began looking into the possiblity of working with the Romulans on a full scale with other ships for the use of cloaking devices. They wanted to make a ship that was just as capable as the Defiant, and cheaper to build and operate. After looking into dozzens of possible ship designs, the effort was deemed improbable and shelved. It wasn't until the Starfleet began Friendly operations with the Klingon Empire that designers got a brilliant idea. With the help of the Klingon Empire, there would be an opprotunity to make an inexpensive ship capable of cloaking operations and still capable of standing toe to toe with any Cardasian warship. Unfortunatly the Treaty of Algeron prevented Starfleet Starships from carrying cloaking devices, save for the USS Defiant. The Klingons and Starfleet deligates agreed under strickt conditions for a joint venture between the two allied factions that would allow for the perfect options for both sides.

The klingons would supply as many of their old D-12 K'Vort Class Cruisers as possible to the federation for refit and redesign to the point of almost a complete overhaul. The ships would stay under the IKS banner of the Imperial Klingon Fleet, but half of them would be devided up and put into use by the Fedearation as well, keeping both Starfleet and Klingon Empire members as the crews of these ships. Not only would it strengthen relations between the two crew types, but it would prove invaluable for both forces to produce more and more battle capable ships.

The systems on the old cruisers were replaced with starfleet technology and equipment and labled for both human and klingon usage. Most of the internal mechanics were replaced with top of the line starfleet equipment. This not only lightened the starship, but also increased power efficiancy as well. The decks were redesigned and remade to be suitable for both the Klingon and Starfleet personel that would be stationed onboard. A single holodeck was installed as well for recrational purposes and training for the crew. The propulsion systems were replaced enteirly to further improve the ships performance and longevity, and with the use of Starfleet structural integrity feilds and warp propulsion systems, the ship was able to reachs speeds equal to that of the Defiant Class starship.

The most important aspect is that the weapons systems were also completly overhauled, only retaining the original aft firing proton torpedo tube, seeing as it was still suitable for defenseive operations. The Forward torpedo tube was replaced with a Pulse Fire Torpedoe Tube like those used on the original Galaxy Class starships and capable of firing up to 10 torpedoes in a single salvo. The dual reactors of the original ships were replaced with starfleet warp reactor cores of the same size, increasing the ships power output by another 75% again for each core, equaling a total increas of 150% power increase for the entire ship. This power increas allows the Kvort refits the use almost every other system on the ship while still using the cloaking feild, giving the kvort unprecidented abilitites ont eh battle field. This gives Refit captains the ability to hang back from a conflict and 'snipe' out weakened targets without even being seen, engaging a ship in full assualt without the other ship even knowing where the Kvort is even at.

Along with the Torpedo overhauls, the wing mounted disruptor cannons were replaced with a set of twin linked, uprated Pulse Phaser Cannons, more impressive then those used on the Defiant Project. These Pulse Phaser Cannons proved to be more powerful with a quicker rate of fire then the standard Type XII or Type XIII that came before them. Then, two smaller Type-X phaser banks were intalled as well for anti-fighter/defensive operations. 4 were mounted aft, placed just above and below the main impluse drive engines to provide improved rear defenses. The min array is mounted along the 'nose ridge' of the front of the vessel to provide 270 degrees of firing angle as well as Ventral and Dorsal firing arcs. The last two are palced to provide firng arcs to port and starboard sides specifically. These systems combined with the new levels of manuvering and speed make the refit an more then incredible design.

The ships retained only a few of the original components from the design. The bridge was left entierly untouched, save for re-labeling all of the controls for joint usage. The original cloaking device still remained untouched, save for replacement parts from the Klingon Empire. All the workings around it changed, but the parts for these devices were readily available and if Starfleet used any components on them in a production run, it would violate the Treaty of Algeron. The entire hull of the ship is still unchanged as well, leaving it an unmistakable peice of Klingon Combat Engineering.

The venture turned out to be a complete success. The ships have proven more then capable of standing against Cardasian threats and the threats posed by newer hostile species. The ability to cloak gives these imprssive ships a decisive advantage over other ships of the starfleet armada, and on may occasions the ships have remained hidded while other starfleet ships entered the area, only to present themselves as hostilites started and compeltly turn the tables on enemy forces. One captain had a hobby of taking still pictues on the main viewscreen of enemy force commanders face as his Bird of Prey decloaked right above seemingly lone/underpowered starfleet vessel(s).