USS Independence – The Achilles-class Strategic Heavy Cruiser was developed by the Federation during the Dominion War in response to the massive warships used by the Dominion alliance, including the Cardassian Union's Hutet-class and the Jem'Hadar super carriers. It was realized that the Defiant-class lacked the operational endurance to conduct long-range strikes necessary to hit Dominion strategic targets and lighter armed deep-space exploration vessels lacked the firepower.