Mantis

and shields failed on test (the shields were later tested and used on the sovereign class) and the engineers saw very little need for such a ship at the time as the defiant was a success and was cheaper to maintain. But when the war started with the Dominion, newer, more up-to-date ships were required and Captain Hooker of the fallen federation starship Trident saw the potential of the Mantis class and took his proposal to Starfleet Command itself. After many talks they agreed and the Mantis project was back on track. At this point the weapons had to be upgraded as well as a bigger warp core, new warp engines and improved shield systems. It was the first ship to include an experimental phaser strips which emitted a blue phaser blast, which the engineers jokingly nicknamed Quantum Phasers to follow the same path as Quantum torpedoes. She has a staggering 8 Torpedoes tubes at the front which fire 3 at a time and fire 24 at a time. Due to the large number of tubes, she has longer reload time compared to other ships, and the new Phasers recharge time is longer than standard phasers. Constructed at the Mars Utopia Shipyards in the Sol System and over 500m long, has over 21 decks with holoemitters on each one (also used on the Prometheus class ships) so that in case of a emergency the EMH (Emergency Medical Hologram) can assist the medical team no matter where the wounded are, or if needed the crew can use the experimental holographic commandos whenever the ship is boarded. The crew compliment is almost the same as the Intrepid class as more room was needed for ship systems and armament. The shuttle bays have the facilities to hold a fighter wing instead of shuttles, which can give the ship an upper hand in a skirmish. When the ship was completed, Starfleet command were so impressed with its results in tests that the Mantis was to be given its first assignment and Capt. Hooker was offered the post and accepted on the spot. The Mantis played a vital role in retaking planets during the Dominion War as well as taking out defences or leading a task force into enemy territory.
The Mantis class was developed to fight along side with the Defiant in skirmishes, but the first prototype was made not long after the defiant and was cancelled after the testing of the new weapons