10 Advantages FEDERATION STARFLEET (Star Trek)

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We look at 10 advantages of Starfleet which is the space navy of the United Federation of Planets. This includes ships like the USS Enterprise D, the USS Defiant etc... covering the Next Generation, DS9 and Voyager eras.
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[@GenerationFilms]

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[@kamenriderblade2099]

British Ben > American Ben!

[@michaelschmidt9857]

In the movie with Picard and Kirk Picard threatens to shoot down any probe launched from the planet or a ship that they don’t know the exact position of. Then Worf comes up and say that it isn’t impossible but nighter is it a sure thing and describes the travel time from the planet in the habitable zone in seconds not minutes. So the D can track and shoot something moveing ftl in a most 15 secs add to that the firing rate of the phaser array and their point defenses is so locked down that it forces all fights to be slugging matches between capital ships. Why wasn’t this in the advantage video?

[@JeanLucCaptain]

CRY HAVOK AND LET LOSE THE COMMENTS OF WAR!

[@bentonmarcum8509]

2:15 No it is the 24th century version of reactive armor.

[@TheMhalpern]

The willingness to sacrifice is not a unique advantage to Starfleet, the UNSC had a standing order that often required it, in the Cole Protocol, navigation data was to be kept out of Covenant hands at all costs.

[@gargoyles9999]

Spock: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few Kirk: Unless they don't have Warp drive Spock: Totally, screw those guys

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

The Federation's Prime Directive always got in the way of their aspirations to be the good guys. When you decide that protecting a pre-Warp species 'natural cultural and technological development' is an acceptable basis upon which to stand by, do nothing, and watch mass death and suffering you could easily prevent, people are going to look askance at your claims of moral superiority.

[@naverilllang]

There is a good reason for it though. the danger of harming a race when justified as being for their good is great. just look at the history of European colonization. of the countries that were colonized, in how many did the locals benefit, even when they were for "moral" reasons? zero. It is crappy at times, but the prime directive does much more good than harm

[@gargoyles9999]

Nathan Lang that doesn't really hold when said culture is about to be wiped out. According to the Prime directive better a civilization be wiped out then someone seeing a space ship. Or even when saving wouldn't involve revealing your presence. I believe it was the episode "Pen Pal" when they have a huge debate over whether they should stop a planet from basically blowing up. You know your philosophy needs work when you make someone agree with Pulaski. The best one was in Voyager where Janeway and Paris are sent back in time and Janeway forbids Paris from warning the locals despite knowing that they will all be dead in 2 days. Janeway s arguement was they wouldn't know what effects that could have on their civilization which Paris counters with the arguement that anything would be better than death and she doesn't have an answer. For a group that will gleefully charge head long into dangerous anomalies and having exploring the unknown as their hashtag, they are scared shitless over what a civilization might do if it continues to exist. The better example is in TOS ( The world is hollow) where Kirk and Spock have the same argument but agree that stopping their asteroid ship from crashing and wiping themselves out is the right choice despite cultural contamination. Just swooping in on a species and saying here's some tech to solve the food problems or vaporizing the headquarters of an autocratic regime is just way to messy and can drag you into a lot of shit, like say picking sides in a civil war. But when you can save a civilization from being annihilated then you might want to do that. It's funny that people will give Section 31 shit while giving Starfleet a pass. One will sacrifice their principles to save lives (murdering someone whose agitating for a war that would cost Billions of lives) while another while gladly sacrifice Billions to uphold their principles. Not evacuating your exploding ship because the escape pods will land on a pre-warp planet? That I can respect. Letting Billions die because shifting an asteroid slightly would possibly interfere with some "cosmic plan"? You need to seriously rethink things

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

@@naverilllang The danger of callous idealism like the Prime Directive is that it is a rationale for allowing anything to happen in the name of a notional 'higher ideal'. Most functional systems of morality would legitimately rather frown upon sacrificing lives for abstract ideology. If you can watch innocent people drown in their own blood, do nothing when you could easily stop it because of some vague ideological goal of avoiding cultural contamination, and call yourself righteous for it, your morality is worthless. If you could save a civilisation from destruction with minimal risk of 'contamination', but you decide that even minimal risk is too much, and so you let billions die, you are not a hero, you are not a superior moral philosopher, you are simply a form of fanatic who privileges your ideology over other people's lives It is even worse that the Federation is so hypocritical about the whole business. Sometimes the Prime Directive is broken, usually by a star ship captain on the scene and often for no reason that is consistently applied in other seemingly entirely comparable situations, and in most cases nothing much happens by way of consequences to that captain, yet in other cases we are told that the Prime Directive is of such overwhelming importance that it justifies allowing vast suffering and death -you really can't have it both ways. It is all so arbitrary that it sometimes seems as if whether a pre-Warp civilisation lives or dies, whether its people suffer or not, all comes down to the idle whim of people sitting comfortable and safe in orbit on a bridge that looks more like a lounge than anything else. That is pretty indefensible.

[@Supersurfer12]

I still remember how much guff Worf's brother had to go through just to save a handful of harmless sentient beings when everyone else on the Enterprise didn't even shed a tear when witnessing these people's entire planet being wiped out moments ago. I don't know how I feel about Picard being able to sleep after seeing an entire species of billions die right before his eyes.

[@korben600]

I'm glad that you guys mentioned soft power! People so often overlook the importance of that to any faction's power rankings. Soft power won't win a battle, or destroy a city, but with soft power, 9 times out of 10, you don't *need* to. It's the difference between having the power to take something from someone, and someone *wanting* to give you the thing you're asking for. It's fairly overlooked, but it's powerful, and Starfleet does it better than anyone else.

[@Edd25164605]

Enterprise D & E were different classes of ship, not a re-design: Enterprise D-Galaxy class Enterprise E- Sovereign Class

[@leeseth.07]

Shut up

[@emiljansson-anderberg8884]

@@leeseth.07 to be fair Edd25164605 is right about Enterprise D and E they are two different ships but they share the name of Enterprise

[@theMPrints]

@@leeseth.07 F0F

[@lynngreen7978]

The Sovereign was built with the mandate of "do everything useful the Galaxy can do" without the luxury cruise liner, and be more effective in a fight." While the Galaxy was built on the premise of "let's go out into the unknown as a community as show alien races who we are, and show that we aren't a threat to them (because we love our children, and wouldn't put them in danger by starting fights)."

[@nicholasmorsovillo2752]

​@@emiljansson-anderberg8884That maybe true that the Enterprise D and the Enterprise E were 2 different ships as one was a Galaxy Class Starship and the other was a Sovereign Class but believe or not before the Sovereign Class was even thought up the Enterprise E was originally gonna be a Galaxy Class Starship there's even a picture of the Enterprise E as a Galaxy Class Starship that was in fact the Enterprise D model.

[@josephD32]

Sisko also punched Q, essentially a 'god', and Q never messed with him again. "I'm not Picard."

[@chronos47]

It is true, he is not Picard. Watch to the last episode of ds9 and you will understand

[@helenneumann4536]

"Picard never hit me" Humm, maybe he should have? Q was great, but also an ass

[@SuperYawgmoth]

Punching a beeing of godlike power, that is known to be petty, is not badass. It is stupid. Q might have retaliated and made many people suffer for Sisko's punch.

[@p.herrmann4538]

Sisko was a Idiot from start on.

[@Gunnar001]

SuperYawgmoth Yeah. He kinda invited Q to fuck with him because, as Q said after the punch, _“You’re much easier to provoke. How fortunate for me.”_

[@justinsaylors3418]

Picard's speech (some of which was shown near the end of the video) is one of the best speeches in all of Star Trek.

[@3Rayfire]

It was extra savage because he started with a quote from Admiral Satie's father Judge Aaron Satie, "With the first length, the chain is forged, with the first right censured". She went apeshit and it was glorious.

[@Fluffy1877]

To be fair, with the note of Worf getting beaten up, thats AFTER he beat up a few dozen other genetically enhanced warrior people.

[@Wildcard120]

The man was a badass.

[@TheJadeFist]

Worf - 0, Falling Boxes -2

[@jfhistheone5]

Thank you! I was fuming after seeing that.

[@osets2117]

@@TheJadeFist that made me laugh way too much

[@amritapatnaik7176]

That brings another point Jem Hadar are genetically enhanced warriors but we have seen starfleet officers beat them.

[@casbot71]

One advantage you didn't list is training via Holodecks. Yes some other Navies have good training, but not for all crewmen. Holodecks allow individual one on one training from the greatest experts in their field paying sole attention to you. That's why they are so good at hand to hand, they train with Bruce Lee and Miyamoto Musashi. The holodeck means that Starfleet personnel are virtual veterans before they ever see action. And they can run perfect mission rehearsals before the event, that is a great asset. And it explains why they are such renaissance people with a broad range of skills, they have an incredibly efficient training system they use when in basic training. For example Beverly Crusher: Top ships Doctor, but also a effective soldier (she's handy with a phaser) and martial artist that fought an alien that had no vital points in the confines of a shuttle. Also a scientist outside medical specialties, such as solar travel inside a star (she was able to modify the Enterprises shields on the fly so they could stay beneath the surface of a star to hide from rogue Borg when she was acting captain). A accomplished tap dancer and Shakespearean actress. And a single mother who held down a high stress job while raising a gifted child that required a lot of attention ( *"shut up Wesley"* ). And she managed to do all this while being a redhead. And she wasn't considered a Mary Sue. That sort of multi discipline talent and skill could only be possible with Holodeck training.

[@GenerationFilms]

Good point

[@jkeelsnc]

I think you just made a valid point. Someone earlier was complaining that starfleet does not have much in the way of specific ground troops. However, (most) every starfleet officer is constantly trained in various martial arts and hand to hand combat techniques. They are also frequently trained with bladed weapons including those of their enemies. They may look weak on the surface but are quite capable in terms of combat training. Also reference the DS9 Episode Siege of AR-558 where starfleet officers held off larger numbers of Jem'hadar soldiers for weeks at a time. Starfleet is no slouch at defending themselves not only with firearms but with various other weapons and hand to hand if necessary.

[@mechredd]

All of these traits can be easily explained with two words, bad writing.

[@mechredd]

Something that many people don't realize about star trek is that the average human lifespan in trek is more than double of what it is now, and that most characters were about 20 years older than the actors playing them. This grants humans more time to become proficient in numerous fields. The multitalented characters and the MacGyver level of genius that the average engineer seems to have, can all be attributed to the more advanced training of Starfleet officers, and the additional time that they have to learn due to their increased lifespans. Beverly may look 40 but she was probably closer to 60 during TNG. Picard was supposed to be in his 70's at the start of the show, and Kirk was in 50's in TOS.

[@Moribax85]

and don't forget 1 important thing that is specified in TNG in the episode "The Neutral Zone": the crew takes up cryopods from the 20th century, and there's a financier inside that wonders how much his investments would pay now, Picard responds "A lot has changed in the past three hundred years. People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of things. We've eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions. We've grown out of our infancy." meaning that people no longer need to work to live, and they can concentrate on what the want to do and what they have talent for... the result is that not only people can train more and learn more thanks to time and technology, but those who do are the best fit, either for talent or for determination: a person that is a soldier because he wants it and not because it's the only way to eat will perfect himself

[@MysteriousMose]

No mention of transporters, Section 31 or Starfleet engineers? They practically had a standard-issue McGuyver on every ship!

[@jkeelsnc]

All valid points. And the Federation never truly utilized every single one of their technical advancements on their ships at all times. Metaphasic shields? Phasing Cloak? (obviously limited by treaty but still). Not to mention they knew about isolytic weapons such as used by the Son'a (but again limited by treaty on this and they are unpredictable anyway). And you are right about starfleet engineers. Every single one that is portrayed is absolutely genius and ingenious. Scotty, Tucker, Torres, LaForge, O'BRIEN!, and Barkley! All of these people were absolute top drawer engineers in their own right.

[@anthonyjackson6319]

But pretty much everyone had transporters.

[@artembentsionov]

lcyw20 well, they did loose a genocidal AI on the galaxy. That’s probably why they went underground

[@artembentsionov]

John Keels Also Stamets and Reno. One built an entirely new mode of propulsion. The other was able to keep a dozen wounded crew members alive for months despite not being a doctor.

[@Vinterloft]

Not Voyager. Torres was... limited.

[@donovanporter4545]

Enterprise E was a sovereign class starship

[@soljafon]

Updated like a phone, the galaxy s9 is not the s8 it's a different phone.

[@cainrahl]

I agree & it was not a warship, it was still classed as an exploration vessel.

[@mrandrossguy9871]

Cato De Roudge Nicely Armed Exploration vessel ; >

[@cainrahl]

@@mrandrossguy9871 Very nicely armed exploration vessel, though they all were for the time they existed. The NCC 1701- designation was always given to the flagship of the fleet, the biggest & the best, all of the Federation's newest toys, commanded by the best & brightest, with the finest crew & fun yet scary stuff a fleet could want & the E was commissioned early as _someone_ crashed the D (memory serves) & they had just come off of 2 conflicts. So thankfully that happened, now imagine if the E had been commissioned after the Dominion War... Woolly They mothballed old fleet vessels when they couldn't hack it anymore, that war had numerous decommissioned ships being refitted & crewed by the untested & was an amazing time in Star Trek history.

[@davidsargent9081]

@@NightRaven-lh1bf it didn't replace the galaxy class, they were still being built. It just happens the enterprise swapped classes, like when they swapped classes between B and C

[@weldonwin]

9:26 to be fair to the Klingons, its Ben Sisko, AKA, the guy who punched a God, Jadzia Dax who has eight lifetimes of training and experience and trains in martial arts for fun and Major Kira wasn't just in the Bajoran Militia, she was a Goddam Terrorist back in the day and so knows how to fight dirty. Also, in point-1, you got the name of Starfleet's first warship wrong. Everyone knows the USS Defiant is more properly called the USS Ben Sisko's Mother F*cking Pimphand

[@arbhall7572]

I will never be able to think of the Defiant in any other way. Thank you sir.

[@weldonwin]

@@arbhall7572 When the Borg got done Ruining Picard's life, he drank tea, then went home to France and wrestled with his brother in some mud. When the Borg got done ruining Sisko's life, he designed Starfleet's first pure bred warship in more than 100 years and made it the most stupidly overpowered and overarmed ship in Starfleet's history and did so with the express purpose of killing Borg. Oh and its not just the Klingons on the receiving end of Sisko's actual pimphand, he'd regularly exercise it on Jem'Hadar the genetically engineered super soldiers, Cardassians who are naturally bigger and tougher than humans and on one occation, Q... Yes, *THAT* Q, Sisko punched out a god once.

[@skipperg4436]

Picard beat Klingons in hand to hand combat on few occasions. And lets not forget Riker who managed to beat Klingon to the point of submission=)

[@weldonwin]

@@skipperg4436 Actually, Picard fought Klingons hand to hand exactly once and got rescued by an old lady, who was also a Klingon and was pretty good at knife throwing.

[@arbhall7572]

@@weldonwin oh I know. Ima fan of the man. He was my fave Capt. for a long time.

[@CaptainSovereign]

I've found it wise to never underestimate the Federation's technical skill(Gul dukat)

[@ZzCanonBull]

What has always amazed me was the fact that Starfleet was able to hold everyone off and they weren't even trying....they kept the Klingons, Romulans, Kardashians, Gorn, and everyone else at bay with science vessels...when they designed dedicated warships they were tough little ships...ie: Defiant, Akira, and Saber class ships....when they tried (and succeeded) making a cloaking device not only did it hide the ship from sensors but it took it out of phase so it made the ship impossible to hit...its like Starfleet engineers decided if you're going g to di something might as well go all the way

[@pills-]

Except for holodecks. Nothing ever works out right with holodecks...

[@ZzCanonBull]

@@pills- this is true

[@pitui1987]

It’s not that the holodeck didn’t work, though; it’s that it worked far too well and was too powerful, casually and accidentally creating intelligent life.

[@kaneo1]

That's why the Feds are so prolific. They inspire the unaligned and intimidate the hostile. "Stand back! I'm going to try SCIENCE!"

[@SirBroadsword]

"its like Starfleet engineers decided if you're going g to di something might as well go all the way" That's pretty much the Starfleet Corps of Engineers in a nutshell right there.

[@michaelmooney4024]

You forgot one of the biggest advantages, how easy it is for Starfleet to retrofit their equipment. Sure the bigger changes and would still need to be done at a starbase, but if R&D on any planet in the Federation develops a better design for phasers, photon torpedoes, or warpcoils then all they need to do is upload it to the database and order all ships to replace the old version. Even Voyager was able to do this once they were able to communicate. Compare this to any other navy in this series, every piece of equipment needs to be built somewhere and transported to the frontlines. That means vulnerable supply lines and delays in implementation. This is exemplified in the Imperium of Man's extreme disparity in gear.

[@qdllc]

Yes. Replicator technology is a hands-down advantage. So long as you have one working replicator and sufficient power and raw material, you can repair/replace most anything on a ship...if not the whole ship...over time.

[@casbot71]

Voyager was able to repair itself in flight after having three decks blown away by holographic WW2 artillery inside the ship (safeties disengaged) and half the ship reconfigured into Holodecks. And it was fixed within a week., without the the ship being specially designed for self repair. The only reason the Equinox was in such bad shape was all its replicators had been destroyed. It never took more than a *week* for a lone Intrepid class ship to be fully repaired without any external assistance. … As for upgrades, Voyager built and installed a *Quantum Slipstream drive* after they examined one on a fake Starfleet ship [they just couldn't overcome that the space frame had to be specifically designed 'aerodynamically' for slipstream]. They designed and built their own hot rod shuttle with advanced new shields in a hurry [ *Delta Flyer* ], but then they constantly made new shuttles and torpedoes themselves when you consider how many they went through 😁. And they completely upgraded the weapons and shields with future tech that was just a design pattern carried by Janeway's future self. Consisting of *transphasic torpedoes* that ate Borg and a *ablative armour generator* that instantly replicates an armored shell round the ship. And they did all this without a dry dock in sight. Also all Starfleet ships had secret schematics for *cloaking tech* hidden in their database that would upgrade the vessel with fully functioning cloaks in flight if the Romulan cold war ever went hot. They would be activated by a fleet wide general order, much to the surprise of the ships captain and crew who didn't know of this feature. _It would have been nice if it had a geolocation failsafe that activated it after a set time outside the alpha/beta quadrant, for those ships that get stuck on the other side of a wormhole or chucked across space by omnipotent beings and can't make their way back through said anomaly._ And a final example of how useful replicator tech can be, a psycho Vulcan replicated a *TR 116 rifle* , added a micro transporter at the end of the barrel and a exographic targeting sensor that can peeping tom anywhere and made a gun that could teleport a bullet into you through walls. So equipment resupply just involves energy and data.

[@themodernmusketeer877]

The NX 01 Enterprise built 2 phase cannons from scratch while en route to Jupiter station to have the phase cannons installed. Before they arrived, they had 3 phase cannons installed and ready to fire.

[@TravelWithCesarin]

@@themodernmusketeer877 didnt they have these canons already on the ship but never installed because of the accelerated launch of the NX class?

[@themodernmusketeer877]

@@TravelWithCesarin if memory serves me right, they had one prototype cannon on board and had to build the other two from scratch

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

I think it is important to remember that the political structure and balance of power that Starfleet operates in within its setting is very different from that of most of the other factions on the list. The Protoss, UNSC, Empire and especially Imperium (and up to a point the Mas Effect galaxy) all operate within universes that are wracked by large scale open conflict to various degrees. Negotiation is of limited utility to them, and while weapons of mass destruction certainly exist they have not created a Cold War analogue balance of power forming a watchful peace type scenario. Conversely, the Star Trek fictional continuity initially came into being in the middle of last century, and Roddenberry stated clearly that the Cold War politics of the era was a major influence. This is not a galaxy written to be at constant war, but rather a galaxy that exists within the aegis of a fragile peace where all out war between the great powers of the setting would be an unprecedented disaster in then eyes of most of the power brokers of the various factions, but despite that the threat of war remains due to mutual distrust and political tension. Being a universe where large scale war might be performed with weapon of mass destruction and the factions of the setting, for the most part, profoundly fear that outcome, Star Trek is in some ways closer to real world history that many of the other settings on the list, and that balance of power allows the Federation to adopt a strategy of soft power and negotiation first, which informs its military policy and relatively low fleet strength. Refusing to heavily militarise is seen by the Federation, and by extension Starfleet, as a means of avoiding making other factions feel threatened and so pushing the entire galaxy toward a war that could cost uncounted lives. Of course, this strategy doesn't entirely work because it makes several assumptions about how other cultures operate, assuming that non-humans recognise a human framework of a balance of power, and further assuming that alien civilisations might feel threatened principally by things like military build up, when some of them are hostile toward the Federation for other reasons, like religious beliefs incompatible with the Federation's values or a perception that the Federation's progressive and inclusive culture represents a threat to the other faction's own cultural or ethnic 'purity'. The Federation works in its universe of origin because it is set up to operate within that political and military system. While it would be very poorly positioned to deal with the threats it would face in a different setting where massive war is more common place and where the threat of weapons of mass destruction is insufficient to inculcate a Cold War type scenario, the point is to assess the Federation's efficacy within its own setting.

[@Parabueto]

Yeah, to be fair it was a decent policy that worked until the dominion showed up, but normally there would be rising tensions and you'd see it coming, instead of *bam* Wormhole! A similar story with the Borg, although lets be honest here, the Borg could absolutely steamroll any of the other factions in this list too.

[@ts25679]

There are so many combat uses for Federation technology that never got used. Like using the teleporters to beam intruders into space, scramble their energy signatures so that what arrives is a gooey mess, beam bombs, etc. Or maybe throw up the emergency shields in the corridor they're in and vent the atmosphere. After the Fed's got their hands on the Doctor's mobile emitter we didn't see them use holographic troops. Imagine if they installed the patterns of holographic nightmares into a probe and sent that at the enemy, I mean the holograms worked against the Borg so why wouldn't eldritch abominations and warp spawned monstrosities work against the Dominion. I could go one but I know the answer, the moral high ground precludes any of this outside of section 31.

[@pills-]

Even grav deck plating that's used (subtly) in each episode has so many uses that are never explored. Not just for combat, but, well, EVERYTHING... (invaders? turn off the gravity there. they have mag-boots? well, turn it up to 6g then)

[@6611nitro]

You know what would be a really interesting show idea, or at least a miniseries, in the star trek universe? A star trek officer, preferably a technician, or crew stranded on a backwater world undergoing an invasion by some hostile force and having to fend them off long enough for the Federation to relieve them with full permission to do whatever is necessary. Let them put that Federation creativity to work perverting their own tools into defensive weapons.

[@ts25679]

@@pills- I know, but I had to cut myself off somewhere or I'd keep going. Another idea my brother and I had for a Star Trek horror movie was about a Changeling assimilated by the Borg trying to make it back to the great link to assimilate the Founders, and the poor unfortunate souls trying to stop it.

[@djwchuckry]

that would be considered "slave labor" as they once attempted to do that to Data and it came down to rights of the individual yes including holograms

[@ts25679]

@@djwchuckry But after that ruling did it change how they used holodecks? Just because those holograms are for entertainment purposes doesn't make them an less slaves. If there is a difference where/how do you draw the line? Since you can make some to entertain, couldn't you also program the perfect soldier who actually want the job and can follow Star Fleet doctrines and command structures.

[@JackBundy]

4:50 made my day. 🤣🇬🇧

[@GenerationFilms]

glad you liked it!

[@nickrider815]

The needs of the 52% outweigh the feelings of the 48% ? 🖖🇬🇧

[@marcusrauch4223]

It kinda sounds like heil dir im Siegerkranz

[@axaeyexus]

@@GenerationFilms Where is this version of the anthem?

[@CRAZYUNCLE117]

Trekky translation "shields up" means "activate plot armor".

[@casbot71]

The Federation has the best _plot armour_ of any franchise. They regularly beat foes that have technological and numerical superiority, not many can claim that, maybe once it twice, but the Federation does it often. And they survive, they keep going on and on, winning till the point that they gain mastery over time and can rig the game [and maybe that's why they make it to that point, they _predestined_ themselves]. You can gauge how formidable someone is by the opponents they defeat. If someone K.O's the UFC world champion you have to consider that they are a good fighter, and Starfleet has defeated a lot of serious heavyweight fighters. As for adaptability, an invasion from another *dimension* by a Space Navy with a completely different technological base is generally known as _Thursday_ to Starfleet. They are the only force in this series that wouldn't be shocked by an attack from another contender. They'd just be relieved that they apparently are facing a conventional military force this time.

[@realGBx64]

Yeah but putting everything together, the UFP controls half the map of the alpha and beta quadrants, if you look at anything. So they must have the numbers advantage and the scientific advantage, mostly because they also give the freedom to their prople who can use it to advance science. And they make their ships cozy enough so people like to serve on them.

[@lolmeme69_]

Even Halo's UEG?

[@jkeelsnc]

It is true that they were impressive in defeating the borg on several occasions and also managing to hold off the Dominion in concert with the Klingons and Romulans. Starfleet is formidable though and has definitely been faced with enemy forces with very different technical capabilities. Consider that the odyssey was destroyed easily by the Jem"hadar. However, once starfleet had adapted their shields to the polaron beams and adjusted their strategy and tactics they became a real threat to the Dominion. The borg were also technically superior but through genius and adaptation they still defeated them.

[@wolfmaster0579]

I wouldn’t say it’s plot armor, but it’s armor that contributes to a plot. (Plot armor is something that makes someone or something immune or highly resistant to you enemies and has little or no drawbacks based on the plot, a special torpedo. Armor that contributes to the plot is things that are widespread and not new and are coincidental, but beneficial to the plot.ex transporters) time travel per say isn’t a plot armor, it’s a tool the federation uses as a last resort. The federation knows what bad things can happened because of it. I don’t particularly think the federation is more technologically or military,better than the Klingons or romulans. The romulans were very secretive and only revealed to themselves a few times to the Klingons before the tng episode. Also remember that the romulans and Klingons don’t advance for comfort, rather they advance their military. You could make a case that the characters are plot armor however their distinguished officers. I personally think the federation is underpowered. Individual ships are amazing, but limited amounts of them negate that bonus.

[@jamesc.5130]

When it comes to hand to hand combat, don't forget the classic palm-to-the-face hit. If I remember correctly, Commander Riker was particularly fond of that one.

[@SamuelJamesNary]

As a "navy" in how Starfleet has operated in Star Trek... they do extremely well and actually overcome many of the perceived weaknesses that are often attributed to them. Much of this wasn't done through traditional manufacturing means but through things like replicator technology which in a way allowed Starfleet to get through many of the logistical and material limitations that if one were to take most other factions out of the equation if saddled with the same limitations. And as said on the "weakness" video, that's even allowed for the deployment of weapons, like the replicating mine used to block the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant before the Dominion War which effectively limited how many Dominion forces could actively participate in the war at its start. It's only AFTER the Cardassians figured out how to deactivate the replicators that Operation Return was even needed... Otherwise, the Dominion would destroy itself ramming mines that would only replicate and detonate and then replicate again. And unless other factions have access to technology that works like the replicators used in Starfleet... they would have a hard time dealing with the technology as it would be completely new to them.

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

uhm.. that Worf getting beaten up reference might be true in TNG, but in DS9 he was a reaql as*-kicker most of the time

[@mechredd]

The clip of Worf getting his ass kicked was from DS9.

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

He did not get his ass kicked in Ds9. He won every fight even as a Dominian POW except the last one which he still didn't loose technically

[@lutenantsweedpertasa]

I think one of the advantages is that despite Starfleet not having many dedicated warships many of their ships are very capable in combat.

[@SuperGamefreak18]

And the funny thing is part of the lore reason for that is the fact that most TNG era ships ARE underpowered warships because a treaty prevented the federation from being dedicated warships like the galaxy class for example (especially one armed for war) could go toe to toe with alot of other scifi ships and could dominate anything at it size and smaller and the galaxy class is one of the more flawed fed ships the voyager and definitely sovereign can survive batting above their weight class if they have to hell voyager did that for a year...sure that ship wasnt even useable after point but it wasn't even a true warship

[@jkeelsnc]

Quite true. Most federation starships may not be build just as warships. However, they are still very well armed for their size, usually have good shields and a high standard of weapons on board their ships. All but the smallest and oldest federation starships should not be underestimated in battle. In the hands of a good captain and crew many of their ships can hold their own against enemy ships.

[@3Rayfire]

Most of the equipment you'd need for deep space exploration is the equipment you'd need for a competently made warship. Fast engines to travel further faster, powerful shields to deal with hazards, advanced sensors to analyze what you find becomes fast engines to outrun and outmaneuver enemies, powerful shields to protect against fire you can't dodge, advanced targeting sensors to track enemies and detect their weaknesses. After the NX-01's experiences all Starfleet vessels would be armed and armed well. Speak softly and fly with a big stick. And Starfleet Officers are trained to use that stick well.

[@braxtonpaetz9535]

5. Starfleet is a bear that you don't want to poke

[@kyleellis9177]

something i think is understated in sterfleet ships is how good the helmsman is. lots of times we see multiple ships wiped out but the enterprise/defiant/voyager survive because their pilot is just better at avoiding fire.

[@void970t5]

The hand to hand combat is all plot armor. Especially against klingons that were a warrior race, fought hand to hand daily, biologically tougher with redundant organs and stronger than humans.

[@jhmcd2]

Not really, I just think that traditionally they are bad at showing it, but Trek officers a well trained in martial arts. Not only is it required at the academy, but they are required to keep their skills up while on board. The techniques chosen were designed specifically to counter their physical weakness, just like most combat forms. Klingons don't usually train with fighting as much (and yes they train but), and are more about the glorious charge and attack versus using skill. This has all been mentioned on the series and shown.

[@MrAranton]

Klingons obviously don't understand melee combat. If they did they wouldn't take batleths to battle; a 17th century Earth rapier would a much better melee weapon; quicker to move, better range, and you're telegaphing every strike). The only place in which using a batleth would make sense is in ritualized duels; much like 18th century European dueling pistols - which deliberately made ineffective so that the winner of a duel wouldn't be hanged as a murderer.

[@petrirantavalli859]

@@MrAranton As Worf who is master of using a bathlet explains it to his son "a bathlet is a defensive weapon" (sorry can't remember the full quote from TNG).

[@jhmcd2]

@@MrAranton That's been my opinion on the weapon too, but Klingons (well, the writers) seem to like it. But they do have small blades that are far more effective.

[@yaldabaoth2]

Klingons are instantly killed by the Riker backhand slap. It's a known weakness.

[@raw6668]

I also have a number 11 and that should be number 1, exotic technology that renders others obsolete. Technology like phaser arrays to have high power omni-torrents that can replace cannons and fighters, transporters for boarding action, anti-matter warheads that outpace nuclear weapons. and hand-held weapons that can vaporize a ships hallways or widespread beams to kill whole companies.

[@benbovard9579]

You would think that since they can 3-D print entire houses today complete with plumbing and wiring, it would be a simple thing to just 3-D print an entire ship in the future.

[@jesusmora9379]

11-transporters (they can transport a photon torpedo inside enemy ships) 12-shields 13-phasers 14-reliable ftl 15-self replicating space mines 16-advanced ai 17-holograms (they can project photonic ships that can actually do damage) 18-replicators (they can replicate anything) 19-they can project any kind of energy from their ships. this includes tachions, photons, protons, ions, etc.

[@lasamisalagne7377]

jesus mora the better question is, why don‘t they make battleships specified on projectin fleets of holoships

[@bluerisk]

Federation engineers who can turn rocks into a replicator...MacGyvers in Uniforms.

[@silenthill4]

But they can't get promoted..wahwahwah

[@BUTCHERIHS]

“Large fleets” *laughs in Star Wars*

[@WarReport.]

I hope humanity does get to a similiar height like the federation where money is no longer used and people focus on bettering themselves and advancing life.

[@pickenshair2511]

Another huge advantage that the Federation had was that they usually had "mixed" crews aboard their ships. They had other species serving (many as officers) aboard their vessels which brought a combination of unique abilities to the table when dealing with races that almost always had abilities of a homogeneous nature.

[@ukmediawarrior]

This was a pretty weak vid on the advantages of Starfleet when compared to the others we've seen. This seemed to depend on Federation and Starfleet policy and individual captain's actions than the actual fleet itself. Also why would Starfleet need slaves to build ships, they have industrial replicators!

[@realGBx64]

And the numbers advantage by having the most star Systems of the alpha and beta quadrants out of any other factions.

[@XMysticHerox]

You forgot the various super weapons Starfleet used in the shows and movies. In the dominion war they blew up two stars with special torpedoes. And Section 31 developed a bioweapon capable of wiping out the founders. They also destroyed numerous planets throughout the shows. The less developed Cardassians had interstellar missiles capabe of blowing up panets.

[@jhmcd2]

The bioweapon was in the previous vid, and yeah he forgot just how powerful their weapons can be when they decide to go all out.

[@STSWB5SG1FAN]

@@NightRaven-lh1bf Using that alone (and _IF_ they decide to go all out genocidal on your ass) the Federation could whip any empire in a matter of weeks (no massive Death Stars required).

[@cabbievonbump]

There was a blooper during that particular TNG episode where Luxanna and Deanna Troi were kidnapped by the Ferengi. Engineering called up and said they had a malfunction with the warp drive and can now only do warp 2. Cue Captain Picard having a mental breakdown knowing he's stuck with Luxanna for several days. Cue Evil Laugh, and Professor Fate's Theme song.

[@ronstrzelczyk2075]

4.51;"Let's not go there !" Hmm !" I think you just did !

[@freezetasticvoyage19]

Lore Reloaded and Anti-Trekker will like this.

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

Starfleet has the best engineers. Full stop.

[@pills-]

*cough* holodecks *cough*

[@SuperGamefreak18]

@@pills- nah that's proof the engineers are TOO good at their job

[@johnw2026]

@sc2umsmaker yes, and holodecks had other drawbacks too. Like (1) Lt. Barclay on TNG took over the ship from inside one, and (2) who went and cleaned up the mess of body fluids any time Commander Riker decided to go in there and find his lady of the night??? Probably some brand new ensign working his way up from the bottom, lol! Like Wesley Crusher....lol!

[@limiv5272]

@@johnw2026 (1) In general, Starfleet seemed to have zero security systems. Anyone could just walk onto the bridge of a starship and operate the consoles, not even a password required. This enabled so many lazy storylines, but always made me want to scream

[@brianfuller7691]

Yes, Starfleet engineers are the best.

[@TheDecree93]

your one liner quips are amazing

[@ortizguard2816]

Great observations! Almost brought a tear to me eye!

[@qdllc]

RE: Klingons being bad at hand-to-hand. I think the bulk of the issue is their temperament. They get into a type of "blood rage" in any situation. You'd think they'd train to a point that complex combat moves would be muscle memory, but it's like a haze comes on them and their attacks, while powerful, are less focused...giving their opponent an opening to counter. I'd also wager that Klingons didn't bother to study other cultures' fighting styles to adopt useful tactic for their own. Human H2H combat in top military units is an amalgam of various techniques from around the world...not just one style. Worf should have been the best as he was Starfleet trained, but all we were ever shown is that he'd fight until he dropped dead rather than yield.

[@qdllc]

@@NightRaven-lh1bf - That, and being in a "warrior culture" does not automatically mean that every Klingon is trained to be a top-notch warrior.

[@rhylin26]

12:00 I replayed that 3 times! 😂

[@angelrivera2339]

I think that having alien members in the crew helped a lot. The more variety meant that a commander has more options to form up plans because of the different ways of thinking other species use. Spock did not curbed Kirk's aggressiveness and intensity, he helped Kirk focus it on the problem at hand. He made Kirk stronger.

[@fallofcamelot]

I love the fact that the example used for how Worf always gets beaten up is probably his most badass moment in any of the series.

[@UncleMikeDrop]

They get a 4 out of 5. They still rely too heavily on high tech solutions where low tech solutions would suffice ie forcefields frequently being used in lieu of doors.

[@Mikalent]

I kind of feel a 3, maybe 3.5 out of 5, mostly due to the universe they live in. The Star Trek universe doesn't really employ single man strike craft, simply because they believe that their phasers are able to lock on to and destroy those strike craft. Add to the fact that those stroke craft would be unshielded due to limitations of the tech, and unable to mount a cloaking device. With those two issues concerning strike craft, it would be easy to see why they aren't used in universe, but it also means that they have to dedicate capital ships and all their crew to an attack run that they would likely die in. When you also factor in that a head to head combat with another faction, strike craft aren't meant to be deployed one at a time, but in swarms, and with the relatively slow firing rate of the general purpose phasers, their ships would be overwhelmed. Also the Star Trek universe seems a lot more soft and squishy compared to Star Wars, the Expanse, Starcraft, and certainly 40K's hell hole.

[@XMysticHerox]

+Bill "simply because they believe that their phasers are able to lock on to and destroy those strike craft." Well they can and have demonstrated that ability in TNG and elsewhere. Besides why do you see strike craft as an advantage? There is little reason as to why strike craft would be advantagous in space combat. In fact manned strike craft are just a waste. And yes the Federation does have strike craft. Federation fighters are basically shuttles build for fighting with a single pilot. They appear in DS9 (in fact shown in this very video). They do have shields literally contradicting your statement directly.

[@UncleMikeDrop]

@@Mikalent Star trek weapons are also accurate at extreme long range and one system can control every weapon system aboard a ship which means many targets can be engaged at range simultaneously. No strike craft can be smaller than a bird of prey or a Defiant class and be expected to last in a battle regardless of numbers.

[@Mikalent]

@@XMysticHerox how about you mount a single shot Torpedo launcher, 1 torpedo, say 50 some odd craft, 50 torpedoes, independantly guided against their target. With the phasers firing say every 4 seconds, it would take you a little over 3 minutes to destroy all the strike craft, and that is if you are only firing at the craft and not the supporting capital ship firing on you. So let's be fair, say you destroy 30 of those craft, the rest fire their torpedoes, can any federation, Klingon or Romulan ship survive say 15(5 miss) direct torpedo hits while dueling another Star Fleet vessel? We're being extremely generous here in saying that the craft are destroyed after a single shot, or that they are even manned craft. We're also being generous in saying that the craft have to actually get well in range of the ships phasers, rather than just skirting the range of their torpedoes, and that they only get one shot. It's the exact same reason aircraft are so important in today's world, 30 single man fighters for a ship of hundreds at minimum. Also Star Fleet does not have actual purpose designed strike craft, like you said, they are simply shuttles with some light weaponry aboard.

[@enterprise-h312]

@@Mikalent Star Trek is more of a "Cold War" universe where "Mutually Assured Destruction" is a thing starting in TOS. The Cardassian Union employs spacecraft-sized guided missiles which can blow up planets. The original NCC-1701 is able to destroy continents under Pike and later planets after upgrades. The NX-01 (Pre-Federation) used weapons which could blow up mountains, yet did nothing to unshielded Vulcan ships.

[@cpt.batteryacid8682]

4:50 I stood up and saluted!🇬🇧 God save the Queen

[@danieltate2006]

I'm not even british and i did the same. Man, if we'd only paid our tea taxes.

[@gmajor1273]

Great video man. Really enjoy watching your shows.

[@LordKunTube]

An interesting take on making a ST list: much appreciated! Eagerly waiting for the Romulan ones, my favourite race.

[@TheDude50447]

Damit hes wearing a red shirt. He wont survive this video.

[@danieltate2006]

In TNG era trek, it's the gold shirts that don't make it through. He'll be fine. At least his shirts look laundered and he doesn't look like he hasn't seen a sonic shower and maybe some good conditioner since the TOS era, unlike some other youtube hosts i can think of.

[@silversonic1]

My fan reasoning for the reason Command wears red by TNG: Essentially, the TOS Red Shirts organized and refused to wear them anymore. This lead to the Motion Picture uniforms. However, nobody was happy with them. So they made everyone a Red Shirt by Star Trek II. In spite of Spock's death, this policy carried on until before the TNG era, likely as a result of the Enterprise C being destroyed and the assumed loss of all hands. Needless to say, Starfleet now liked the look of Command in red, so their uniform change kept them in red and gave gold to security and engineering. But then the gold shirts started dying. Everyone realized it was just a job hazard and moved on with their lives.

[@Draliseth]

*glaring intensifies*

[@dmitritelvanni4068]

God you trekkies are nerds. Lol. *mumbles under breath in sindarin*

[@gkjaerby2441]

Not all red shirts in the og Series dies. Their was a black woman (or woman of Color as i like to Call Them) that war red and did not die from What i know.

[@ironstarofmordian7098]

They get a four because they have the Pimp hand of the Federation.

[@flaviusjustinianus]

I loved Startrek for the moral high ground and deeper questions about what we choose to be mixed with some action and scify fun but lately it's all about action, epic and emotions, twisting everything at a moment it is needed to keep up the tension and make everything more dramatic by violence and danger.

[@Vinterloft]

The moment you realize Discovery is a spin-off, the pain goes away Star Trek Online fanfiction has more legitimacy

[@MisterTechnologic]

Thank you for making my two favorite kinds of content : ST and credit cards!

[@adamnilsson2843]

There may only be four lights but star trek gets a 5/5

[@soljafon]

Are we forgetting how the federation used the EMH as slav labor Slavakia Bratislava

[@thegreenmanofnorwich]

When I was 12 and first saw Voyager, I did think that if the Doctor was sapient, then it created all sorts of ethical problems

[@paulcarrillo7400]

Awesome Video Ben!!!

[@martinsach5599]

Main advantages: 1) Plot armour of main cast characters is nigh impregnable (even to the point to bring them back from the grave - say hi to Spockums...:D) 2) Sufficient (and potentialy bottomless) reserve of redshirts on board. 3) Starfleet prepared, and from day 1 upgraded the great anti- "technology-mimicking-powers kinda like the borg" technology of suicide exploding consoles for bridge crew.

[@elisekehle8520]

seriously antichoice, or just joking?

[@GregSzarama]

I unsubscribed. Too bad.

[@obnoxiouspriest]

Yeah that was oddly out of place.

[@maddog5284]

HAIL BRITANYA ONLY BIRTISH BEN

[@psychoangel4848]

@@NightRaven-lh1bf odin save the queen

[@richardmaggs3430]

Bah, bunch of islanders. USA! USA!

[@richardmaggs3430]

True that, I stand corrected. God save the Queen...and the President. Whenever we get one that will stay off Twitter.

[@petrsukenik9266]

yeah, enjoy the comming ekonomical crisis

[@carlousmagus5387]

God Save the Queen

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

8:50 number 7.5: the cavalry charge factor. there's always that late reinforcement to the main army at the last minute, that turns the tide of battle.

[@jasondoty2651]

In the TOS episode The Immunity Syndrome, the Enterprise is on a rescue mission when that receive a distress call from the USS Intrepid. This was a all Vulcan crew starship.

[@lokai7914]

Of course you're the best Ben, you're British!

[@100dampf]

11:25 "'Human rights.' Why the very name is racist." Star Trek VI

[@ericdunn360]

Riker and Troi were amused at Picards poetry.

[@Sirempath]

When asked why the red rear tail lights were facing the opposite direction Capt Picard replied "we in star fleet are obliged to maintain a sense of continuation, so when Laforge got the Enterprise stuck in reverse one time we have flown in reverse ever since then as have all Star fleet ships. As we are in space it doesn't matter which way we face, although the Kardashians and Klingons get confused, we don't care enough to change it"

[@barrybend7189]

Best mech based armies in Sci-fi next please. My nomination is the Earth Sphere Federation from Gundam 00. Real robots only no super robots.

[@spaceman6463]

Barry Bend Watch gurren lagann

[@spaceman6463]

Barry Bend And gundam has way better mechs

[@barrybend7189]

@@spaceman6463 they put 40K a lot so there. Plus 00 has the most competent and least fractured military and government in Gundam.

[@jos1243]

BATTLETECH would be a nice addition

[@barrybend7189]

@@jos1243 now pick a faction as I don't want them to blanket anything from Battletech.

[@helenneumann4536]

OK, i enjoyed the video but at 12:46 that was such an inappropriate comment considering its a very controversial subject.

[@helenneumann4536]

correction 12:01

[@creatureofaction]

Helen Neumann I thought the same thing. I was invested in the whole video up until that point, and once he said that, my heart just kind of sank. People are allowed to have their opinions, but c’mon Ben, we are here to have fun and engage in a fantasy universe, not to get into social or political arguments.

[@alecsandyr]

Good work, best Ben!

[@kensmith2285]

Great video everything I love about Star Trek

[@kaneo1]

Time travel. Yes, but where were the timecops when Vulcan was destroyed, when the Xindi attacked, when...

[@songyani3992]

Xindi attack was caused by a long-term influence by the sphere builders on the Xindi, so even if they want to solve the problem, they would not have worked on the time of the attack directly, because Xindi can always build another one if they still want to destroy Earth

[@songyani3992]

As for the destruction of Vulcan, given that canonical star trek materials indicate that the change to the timeline could change the future, which means the change to the timeline happens in the same timeline, instead of creating new alternate timelines, I still think Kelvin timeline happens in a entire alternate universe like the mirror universe which means it never happens in the prime universe.

[@charlescaine6022]

Worf's best line is when he wins a fight with Garak and says, "You don't fight like a talior." So Worf can win against tailors and other Klingons.

[@weldonwin]

In that fight, Worf and Garak hit eachother so hard, they break the fabric of reality and you can see into another universe

[@charlescaine6022]

@Han Lockhart I've got to admit that I don't remember that fight. Was it the tall Dax or the short cute Dax? Either way it's impressive to defeat someone with generations of fighting experience.

[@stevenewman1393]

🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely well done and very informatively explained and executed in every way possibly provided indeed👌.

[@55Quirll]

The Picard speech you referenced was from 'The Drum Head' and the speech he gave about 'the first link being forged ties us' was the best speech that I have heard and am looking to find it and learn it for myself, for what he is talking about is happening in the US today and has been happening since Sept,11 2001. Bin Laden got his wish that day - the US was defeated. I enjoyed watching your Videos on the Federation Starfleet and would like to see some more, thank you. GB did the best thing by not being part of the EU and keeping it's own currency. Just my opinion.

[@dariustiapula]

Speak softly and carry a tricorder.

[@3Rayfire]

That can detonate the mines you improvised when you realized a fight was inevitable.

[@davidfromgeo]

I think the only reason Starfleet isn't as big as other navies is because they're not really THE military organisation of the federation. Starfleet is what would today be if European Union created a unified military that all members would contribute to. I'm sure most of Federation's budget goes towards civilian infrastructure and needs rather than the military, unlike most other sci fi organisations. The Galactic empire, the Klingon empire, the Romulan empire had much worse conditions for everyday citizens probably because they didn't focus on civilian development as much as military development.

[@realGBx64]

And let's not forget how vastly bigger the UFP is than any other contender in the Galaxy. They definitely have the economics advantage.

[@Karagianis]

2:15 It's actually more like ERA (explosive reactive armour) used on some present day tanks to protect against shaped charge munitions. It doesn't make you harder to hit, it just makes it so anything that does hit you does less damage.

[@themajormagers]

Jadzia Dax had a good reason to be able to beat up Klingons. More than a few life's and a fondness for the Klingon weapon forms.

[@victorbruant389]

I'm kind of disappointed that a Brit confuses "warships" with "battleships" ;-)

[@roberthicks1612]

A war ship is any ship designed for war. A battleship is a type of warship. As an example, the Enterprise was never designed as a warship until after the borg attacked. Even then, it was not a battleship. Even though it could fight better than most warship of alpha quadrant, it was designed as an exploration ship. Voyager was actually designed as a warship (not an exploration), but it was also NOT a battleship. It was possibly because it was designed as a warship that it was able to survive going so far from home and returning.

[@victorbruant389]

​@@roberthicks1612 Exactly.

[@roberthicks1612]

Yes, it was built as a warship, meaning it is well armed. That doesn't make it a battleship, a type of warship.

[@victorbruant389]

​@@roberthicks1612 I know, that is what I meant 4 days ago.

[@Battleship009]

Next up the Concordiate of Man from Bolo.

[@chrisc1140]

I support this! Bolos don't get nearly enough love

[@colonelquack]

Ya know. @10:08. That sequence is where Worf really redeemed himself. He got beat in that detention camp. Yes. And he kept getting up. The Jem'Hadar finally realized there was a foe they could not defeat.

[@thomashill6347]

WELL DONE.

[@AnalystPrime]

The reason UFPSF hadn't built warships for over a century is that they really didn't need to because those "exploration ships" were just so much better than everything other races had, barring really extreme outliers like the First Federation, V'ger, the whale probe and the Borg. Basically imagine USA, Russia and China as Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians trying to invade EU by launching a surprise nuclear attack, and all their warships are beaten by Jacques Cousteau on his research boat, which survives enough nukes to glass the planet with only a radar monitor getting fried from the EMP overload. And yes, that boat, just like ALL FEDERATION SHIPS does have surge protectors, but no surge protector is rated to shrug off direct hits from the frigging Death Star. That meme has to die and all the idiots repeating it need to shut up already. Also yes, several times Federation ships have survived Death Star equivalent fire from planet killer weapons, as in without blowing up from one hit. They are also, despite generally having far smaller number of weapons for their size than most warships, capable of glassing a world in minutes without need for some special superweapon(though for obvious reasons this had happened off-screen). These are very good reasons why Star Fleet prefers talking to fighting and why the Prime Directive is so strict about meddling in affairs of other races unless absolutely necessary.

[@artembentsionov]

And yet every time we’re shown a Federation-Klingon war, Starfleet is always on the losing end. Huh.

[@AnalystPrime]

@@artembentsionov Right until Kirk rips his shirt or Picard makes a nifty maneuver or the science officer invents a new law of physics. Between the Doylist reason of needing "drama" and putting the UFP in a pinch so it is more impressive when the heroes ride to rescue(seriously, if the fleet defending Earth had not been given huge idiot balls, there would have been no reason for Picard to join the fight against the Borg cube), and the Watsonian reason of Star Fleet having stuff to do while the defense should be the responsibility of system defense fleets(which must have been downsized exactly because UFP is generally so ridiculously good at keeping peace) it actually makes sense that surprise attacks by cloaked ships get pretty far. However, SF has focused on shield, sensor and engine tech so much that generally the invasion loses it's momentum right after that. Typical episode format has always been basically 1: some light target gets destroyed to show there is an actual threat(*), 2: Enterprise responds and gets attacked by a World Destroyer or a wing of cloaked Warbirds, 3: crew figures out what is happening and Enterprise wins the fight. (*:If the episode does not involve starship combat, insert redshirts or Worf getting beaten up.) The whole point of Star Trek is showing a culture that does not go around conquering others by force or focus on how big guns they have, and it does make sense that occasionally others forget that does not mean their military is weak. I also find it realistic that UFP gets "victory disease" from having been peaceful for too long and doesn't put much effort in system defense exactly because the Star Fleet is either technologically superior to every threat they have met or able to handle things by negotiation. That does leave UFP vulnerable to some enemy attacking a planet or few, but despite how Earth centric the series sometimes is, any other world could then take charge, order the massive industry needed to keep the civilian population of their post-scarcity civilization happy to start building more armed starships, and bury the invader in fleets. The only real weakness they have is that with the peaceful culture and no need to work and SF preferring scientists and explorers to soldier types, very small part of the population actually wants to join Star Fleet, limiting how many ships they can crew.

[@artembentsionov]

@AnalystPrime Actually, both times the Klingons were winning they either used a ruthless deposed emperor from another universe to plant a planet-busting bomb or rewrote the timeline to prevent the war in the first place.

[@AnalystPrime]

@@artembentsionov What can I say, stupidly advanced tech makes solutions like that perfectly viable. As one guy summarized it, the typical Trek way of solving a problem is that the science officer invents a new type of particle that changes laws of physics so the problem is solved. Personally I suspect time travelers from their future are responsible for UFP winning at winning all the time.

[@artembentsionov]

Reminds me a little of the Nebari In Farscape. Their tech is so far above the rest that they don’t have a need for a dedicated warship. One of their standard “host ships” has destroyed a Peacekeeper command carrier, long thought to be indestructible. During the bidding for Crichton’s wormhole tech, there were three bidders: Peacekeepers, Scarrans, and Nebari.

[@2SSSR2]

Main problem that Starfleet has is inability to fight in military engagements outside ship to ship battle. Any other faction military listed here would slaughter them in infantry or armor engagements.

[@haleffect9011]

We've never seen federation ground forces, except on two occasion where they were close to running out of supplies and were on their back food. We know they had grenades, mortars, I presume tanks and the like as well, but we never saw them

[@XMysticHerox]

Starfleet has ground forces. They were just never really covered. Hence why it is a bit unfair to just flat out say they do not have any. We just know nothing about them other than that they exist. Also considering pinpoint orbital bombardment and casual planetary destruction I am not sure how relevant ground combat is against a faction like the Federation.

[@-JustHuman-]

In most cases why would the need a large military ground force, we have seen them stun a whole city in one shot from space and move continents with their tractor beam. And they do have ground forces that have quiet advanced weapons, armor and personal shields. Remember it's not only the shows that are canon now even Star Trek online is.

[@michaelschmidt9857]

The feds should have never had ground troops, at least not since the made the e.m.h. Shouldn’t be to hard to program som troops set up som holo-emitters make a small shield to protect them and a phaser replicator and boom you got an endless, deathless, fatigue-less army. As long as you power supply holds that is.

[@XMysticHerox]

+Michael Well yeah. Starfleet could also beam torpedoes into enemy ships. But since we basically never see them do that it is not really a legitimate feat to use here. They could also abuse nanites and phase cloaking.

[@Grimlock794]

Kira was a resistance fighter most her life. She was probably the most capable fighter on DS9.

[@briankriens5645]

Wrath of Khan is still my favorite, but Voyage Home has a special place in my heart :)

[@Aetrion]

I still completely disagree with the idea that slave labor would be some kind of huge industrial advantage in the future. Building starships isn't unskilled labor, it takes a huge amount of highly specialized people, and even the simple tasks like mining or farming can be done better by a specialist with a machine than by slaves. The biggest thing that makes a society more powerful is identifying and supporting its geniuses and visionaries, and that's accomplished through broad education, networking and freedom. Finding the one in a million people who can advance an entire society and giving them what they need to do so is a numbers game. Enslaving parts of your population for some cheap labor runs directly contrary to that goal.

[@jkeelsnc]

I agree. Slavery is such an oppression against living beings. Anyway, the federation automates many of its manufacturing systems. Also, they have incredibly capable engineers to supervise and build starships in spacedock. Even the Dominion respected starfleet's engineering prowess. The vorta field commander that was stuck on the planet on DS9 even commented to Sisko "I assume you brought along one of your FAMED starfleet engineers who can turn rocks in replicators!!!!". How much larger complement could you expect to get from your enemy who hates you?

[@andyspark5192]

overpowered and overgunned USS *DEFIANT*

[@williamsquires3070]

#1 should really be: Their curiosity and willingness to learn, and to share that knowledge with member worlds. So, not only did member worlds contribute to the greater whole, they got to benefit through access to the Federation’s massive historic, cultural, linguistic, and scientific databases. This mix of cultures meant that the Federation didn’t depend solely on any one planet for a specific technology; their ship designs incorporated improvements made elsewhere, even taming (to some degree) Borg technology, even though the Borg didn’t (willingly) share. This gave the Federation a huge advantage; a warrior race like the Klingons, Romulans, Breen, etc... could never have held against the might of the Borg even had they conquered the worlds of the Federation; their homogeneity would be their downfall - what kills one kills all. This is also true of homogenous gene pools (a.k.a. “Racial purity”) - all it takes is one superbug, and Humanity would have been wiped out. That, and every Starfleet Captain keeps a secret copy of “Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy” in their bookshelf! 🤓

[@ragnarokgalaxy9510]

As an American I watch your boat too. Definitely good comedy.

[@ragnarcroughs2784]

I can't trust a company with the bame swagbucks. Thatss soo 2016

[@andrewthorne3570]

i thought he said slag-butts at first

[@SwagbitoUchiha]

I take offense to your insult of my people’s currency

[@ragnarcroughs2784]

@@andrewthorne3570that would be better.

[@astrobot4017]

10 flaws with the Terran Empire

[@alexandercaires5921]

I honestly want to see ten advantages of the Terran Empire more

[@casbot71]

@@alexandercaires5921 Advantage #1 grab every bit of alien tech they can and reverse engineer it. Disadvantage #1 constantly have to be on guard against internal rebellion. That is also a advantage of the Federation, whenever they absorb a new species that species is fully invested in the survival of the Federation and also has all its resources intact, not damaged by invasion and conquest.

[@carlose4314]

None

[@friendlyamericanpatriot3943]

Long live the Empire!

[@Fish1701A]

They are to close to reality so no fiction in that sorry.

[@mechredd]

Something that wasn't in the video is that federation ships were built to be modular. This allowed for minor refits to include essentially stripping and rebuilding entire ships. This is how the original Enterprise changed in appearance from TOS to the movies. It is the same ship from the series up until it's destruction in the 3rd film. It received upgrades to everything between the end of the show and the first movie. This also make repairing a ship much faster. A warp nacell gets heavily damaged, pop it off a put a new one on, like changing a tire.

[@danielgertler5976]

Must note about the sonnet that Picard is saying to Lwuxana. It basically can be summed up as "you're hiddeous and you mistreat me but for some reason I like you anyways.

[@beasticy4216]

I can see 40k space marine boarding parties having a field day with Federation ships lets not forget about the captain that love ship ramming

[@djcuevas1057]

beast ICY don’t forget that a phaser is more then powerful enough to kill a Astarte dead.

[@spaceman6463]

Dj Cuevas How strong is a phaser

[@spaceman6463]

Dj Cuevas A phaser would touch a space marine

[@djcuevas1057]

beast ICY it can destroy several tons worth of rock in a single shot. And can instantly vaporize human sized targets with one hit. It also has various modes such as one that can let them disintegrate a whole room of people in one shot.

[@christiandauz3742]

By the time the crew is aware of them, they are already dead Astartes can run 60mph and can fire while on the move They can also used some of the crew as living meat shields Bolter Rounds don't need to directly hit their targets to kill them, the explosive force can kill nearby crew Even if a Phaser rips off/disable one of the Space Marine's arms he wouldn't stop killing! Space Marines can throw grenades from behind cover (which they can move with their inhuman strength)

[@tba113]

These are some good points, and I generally like Starfleet's ideals, but this bears some rebuttal... *1.* *Ship* *design:* It's always confused me why Starfleet considers the concept of warship armor to be some revolutionary new game-changer in ship design. And despite three centuries of technological improvement, they've never fixed the explosive-consoles problem. *2.* *Large* *Fleets:* True, when Starfleet puts a task force together, it brings a lot of firepower to the table. ...So why do they almost never do this? Episode after episode, series after series, and despite Starfleet having thousands (possibly tens of thousands) of large, well-armed ships to work with, the _Enterprise_ is routinely the only ship available to handle the emergency of the week. Imperial Star Destroyers, Lunar-class cruisers, Halcyon-class "light" cruisers, Lucrehulk battleships, Protoss Void Rays and Carriers - these all lead task forces or fleets. But Starfleet's _flagship?_ Nah, I'm sure it will never see an advantage in leading multiple ships in a task force or coordinating some sort of multi-vector attack mode or anything, that's just crazy talk. *3.* *Soft* *Power:* Completely fair point. No one does interplanetary diplomacy like the Federation - though the Maquis might disagree. *4.* *Intelligence* *and* *Ingenuity:* [See below] *5.* *Adaptability:* Being inventive and flexible is a strength, though I'm not sure why "humans are creative" should count twice - or, for that matter, how the fact that it's _humans_ who are uniquely creative squares with the Federation's strength in alliance-building, since most of those alliances are with non-humans. *6.* *Time* *Travel:* Clearly, time travel is _such_ an advantage that an entire division of Starfleet was created to... uh... Clean up the messes and potentially universe-ending problems it causes? I dunno, this seems like the sort of thing a moral-high-ground type would conclude isn't worth the risks. *7.* *Rising* *From* *The* *Ashes:* Another fair point. Starfleet rarely loses territory to conquest permanently. (Though the Maquis would probably argue that losing one's home to a soft-palmed diplomat's deals, made without asking the Maquis, makes this less impressive.) *8.* *Hand* *to* *Hand* *Mastery:* _[laughs_ _in_ _chainsword]_ *9.* *Not* *Afraid* *Of* *Self* *Sacrifice:* Credit where credit is due, most Starfleet captains appear willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their ship, their crew, and their ideals. You have to go pretty far to find such dedication in other space fleets. If only the Starfleet admiralty were... Well, no, we'll get to them in a moment. *10.* *Moral* *High* *Ground:* Interesting examples, and absolutely gripping episodes - though as a reminder, Starfleet needed a _court_ _case_ to decide whether one of their own officers (who was already serving as a LIEUTENANT COMMANDER!) was actually a person or not. It was an excellent episode, but it should have been unnecessary: Starfleet had built a sentient computer system a century or more earlier, the M-5, and even (temporarily) put it in command of the _Enterprise._ Similarly, The Drumhead is also amazing, but it bears mentioning that Admiral Satie had Starfleet's blessing, with no oversight, to conduct her witch-hunt. It's practically a meme that Starfleet admirals are deranged and amoral. Between sending starship captains on suicide missions, dragooning ships' officers to cover up failed experiments, putting officers on trial for imaginary crimes, trying to shackle sentient beings into slavery, giving away huge swathes of Federation territory for treaties even _they_ know aren't worth the paper they're printed on, and press-ganging supervillains into building warships in secret for the Federation to start interstellar wars with, it's a wonder Starfleet captains don't simply have visiting admirals tossed in the brig as soon as they arrive, just on principle. Ships and crews serving in Starfleet is a great setup for telling interesting stories, and ultimately that's the point of any book, movie, or TV series. In that regard, they're aces as far as I'm concerned. But *as* *a* *space* *navy,* I'm sorry to say I can't strongly, genuinely endorse Starfleet.

[@johntitor6612]

Starfleet's PowerUps: "Moral High Ground": At will, +500 Plot Armor and +20 Charisma for 300 seconds (time is doubled if a speech is given) "Soft Power": At will, +50 Evasion, Enemies are confused and get -200 damage resistance "Sacrifice Redshirt": At will, sacrifice one (1) Redshirt and instantly regain +500 Plot Armor and +50 Accuracy "Passive Trait - Backhand": +25 Hand-to-Hand Combat, +10 Luck "Passive Trait - Hero Ships": +500 Damage Rating to all ships in which a Hero Ship is present "Passive Trait - The Needs of the Many": +100 Plot Armor if civilians are on board, +20 Plot Armor for every additional 50 civilians

[@IAmTheAce5]

1: shuttle, 2: Miranda, 3: Constitution, 4: Galaxy, 5: Defiant (Ben Sisko's Pimp Hand!!)

[@starsilverinfinity]

People leave Starfleet alone in ST bevause they know that if they push to hard they would rip them to shreds at ease

[@silentstorm509th9]

Where is the SW Republic?! It is clearly better than any of the Naval forces listed. The Separatists almost matched them but the Empire's Navy sucks especially outside legends. Well, at least we have the UNSC.

[@igorwojtyna2158]

No imperium of man still wins it

[@silentstorm509th9]

Clone Superiority @@igorwojtyna2158

[@igorwojtyna2158]

SilentStorm5O5 even if one venator takes 2 imperial battleships once the republic runs out of ships the imperium still has half a galaxy worth of them and I don't think I have to mention what happens if the Astartes board the ship

[@XMysticHerox]

Exposed bridges. Basically only one ship class. And that class is not even good. How again are they clearly better than these factions? In fact I´d argue they would get stomped by anyone but the Empire.

[@silentstorm509th9]

@@igorwojtyna2158 The CIS outnumbered the GAR and the Republic Navy combined significantly yet they held their own even when Palpatine was against them.

[@PyroK8]

I'm a huge trekkie and that was an amazing opening joke