NOTES:

The Solar class was a sought after posting for young officers looking to make a name for themselves or to gain first experience of command. With a crew of 23 and 10 marines, the ships had a justifiable reputation for being ‘hot rods’ due to their speed and manoeuvrability, and also made many planetfalls as they were used to ‘fly the flag’ in many lightly defended areas. Indeed the only Starfleet vessel that many colonies only ever saw a Solar class cutter.

As of 2270 of the 588 Mk 1 Solar Class cutters built, 196 Mk Is remain in reserve fleets.  79 Mk Is have been destroyed and 2 Mk Is are listed as missing; 16 Mk Is have been scrapped and 81 Mk I have been sold to civilian commercial concerns.

Of the remaining 214 Mk1s, 120 are employed in second line duties across the UFP, and 70 have been sold planetary defence forces or allies. 24 Mk1s were converted to Mk2 standards during the 4 Years war, and gained a heavier weapons fit for use in a high speed precision strike role, only 1 Mk2 (The USS Kane) survived the war in UFP service, and it was retired to the Fleet museum, 9 were lost following combat , 5 scrapped owing to damage, one is listed as missing and the remaining 8 were sold to the AOFW where they remain in service alongside a number of Mk1s.

The Solar class cutters were manufactured at the Salazaar and Alpha Centauri shipyards at a combined rate of 26 per year

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