Type-18H shuttlecraft

Type-18H shuttlecraft
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet
Classification:	personal shuttle
Service period:	24th and 25th centuries
Dimensions
Length:	approx. 9.5 meters
Specifications
Capacity:	2 crew, plus cargo
Speed:	Warp 6
Armaments:	transphasic torpedo launcher
Defences:	deflector shields, ablative armor generator, stealth technology

The Type-18H shuttlecraft was a 25th century Federation auxiliary craft class, a shuttlecraft for personal use by Starfleet personnel in the 2400s decade. Through time travel, this type prochronistically entered service in the late 24th century. (VOY episode & novelization: Endgame, The Official Starships Collection Issue Shuttle 24: "Janeway's Armored Shuttle", SOTL calendar: Ships of the Line 2020)

Service history

SC-4 at Starfleet Academy.

In an alternate timeline, Type-18H shuttlecraft had entered service by the year 2404. (VOY episode & novelization: Endgame)

In its design, it was an evolution of the Type-9 shuttlecraft of the 2370s decade. The newer type carried different warp nacelles, and the aft section behind the avionics bay had been enlarged to make room for a small cargo compartment. (VOY reference: The USS Voyager NCC-74656)

24th century Starfleet acquired the shuttle's specs when USS Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant with its futuristic technology in 2377. This technology was removed from Voyager, its databanks, and studied, all under the auspices of Project Full Circle. (VOY novel: The Farther Shore)

At some point after, the Type-18H shuttle SC-4 entered service and was launched from Starfleet Command. (SOTL calendar: Ships of the Line 2020, September image)

Specifications

Standard version

In its standard configuration, the Type-18H shuttle could accommodate two flight crew and additional cargo. (VOY reference: The USS Voyager NCC-74656)

The shuttle was approx. 9.5 meters long and could maintain a speed of warp 6, which outcompeted the baseline Type-9 shuttle.

With ablative armor deployed.

The vessel was fitted with anti-Borg technology, some of which had been developed by USS Voyager in a decades-long journey across the Milky Way Galaxy. This included an ablative generator that, when active, could protect the hull by deploying a nigh-impenetrable ablative armor. In addition, the shuttle was fitted with a type of -stealth technology. (The Official Starships Collection Issue Shuttle 24: "Janeway's Armored Shuttle")

This stealth technology was incompatible with a 2370s-era Intrepid-class starship. (VOY episode & novelization: Endgame)

Weaponry consisted of a forward-facing transphasic torpedo launcher built into the ventral hull. (VOY reference: The USS Voyager NCC-74656)

While the ship's weaponry was no match for a Klingon Voodieh-class warship, the ablative could effectively protect the shuttle and its occupants from nadion-laced disruptor fire. (VOY episode & novelization: Endgame)

A Type-18H shuttlecraft could be controlled by its pilot in three ways: through tactile control consoles with LCARS touch interface, voice commands to the computer, and a neural interface. For the latter, a synaptic transceiver had to be implanted into the pilot's brain. (VOY reference: The USS Voyager NCC-74656)

Special operations

In 2404, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway fitted a Klingon chrono-deflector on the roof the Type-18H shuttle SC-4. This transformed the vessel into a timeship shuttle but the chrono-deflector burned out after one use. (VOY episode & novelization: Endgame)

Known shuttlecraft

• SC-4 (24th century)
• SC-4 (25th century)