BRAD'S COMMENTS:  The Nova might be best thought of as the late 24th century equivalent of the 23rd century Oberth (a.k.a: Gagarin/Sagan) science vessel.  Even though it packs more punch than most cruisers from the 23rd century time-frame, on the scale of its 24th century contemporaries like the Sovereign or Akira Classes, the Nova is a modest little ship, which apparently emerged from the same engineering font that birthed the Defiant Class super-destroyer.  Where its stats are concerned, the Nova has much in common with the Defiant, though I have greatly limited the weapons of the Nova to conform with known information about the Nova's offensive capability as seen on-screen.  Much of what is known about this class comes from the ST:VOY two-parter "Equinox", in which a Nova Class dubbed the U.S.S. Equinox has been sucked into the Delta Quadrant by the same Caretaker that nabbed the Intrepid Class U.S.S. Voyager.  In many ways the Nova is superior to the larger, older Intrepid, though presumably only in the combat department.  I realize that building stats for all of these late-model Federation craft is tricky business, and that some fans might dislike my interpretations.  But based on the fan mail I am getting thus far, I am doing okay.  If anyone has comments, please feel free to e-mail me.

* Denotes completely hypothetical model number and stats, devised by Brad R. Torgersen.

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