Her designated homeport during that time was Sherman's Planet. She was subsequently assigned to the Federation-Klingon border, in order to restore tactical balance in the region following skirmishes provoked by the Kinshaya. Initially laid down in 2368, the USS Phalanx was officially commissioned just three years later in 2371. The prototype NX-74998 was rushed into production, developed in a joint project between the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, Starfleet Tactical and a private company, Magnus Heavy Industries. This led to 'bold leaps' in defensive and propulsion technologies. Initially conceived as a potential replacement for the aging Excelsior class as Starfleet's 'backbone,' the Phalanx Class Development Project was forced to shift focus after the Battle of Wolf 359. The Phalanx-class was equipped with two Mk XXIV warp cores, 11 Type-XII phaser arrays and 134 Sovereign-type escape pods.
