The Xenon class' was the mid-2370s upgrade of the Yellowstone-class / Danube-class runabout development projects to accommodate the possibility of ongoing victories for either the Borg Collective or the Dominion. Starfleet had to bring its "A-Game" & redeveloped the Danube class into a small version of the Defiant class. It took several drafts including the Valiant-class, Prevaricate-class, Styx-class, Solidarity-class & Talon-class / Venture-class medium-range scouts. The SCE and its Klingon Black Fleet design collaborators eventually arrived at a craft even a Klingon could be proud of. A series of interchangeable dorsal-mounted EPS/ODN-compatible mission-specific units for surveillance or strafing runs, forward pulse phasers & Voyager-upgraded microtorpedoes (forward & aft much like the