Advanced Starship Design Bureau

The Advanced Starship Design Bureau (ASDB) is a division of Starfleet responsible for the design of starships solely and starbases jointly with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. The Bureau is also tasked with experimentation and research into shipbuilding materials and techniques. They conduct design reviews, make recommendations on improving existing ship classes, and run system simulations. ADSB personnel are attached to every Starfleet shipyard, serving in integration sections. There are also several larger integration facilities, located in places like the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Antares Fleet Yards, and Earth Station McKinley. These integration facilites are used to experiment with certain technologies and techniques, as well as apply new or theoretical systems to ships.

Part of the ASDB is the Starfleet Spacecraft Design Advisory Commission, an entity comprised of designers, draftsmen, architects, engineers, and scientists from both Starfleet (employing active-duty and retired personnel) and civilian spheres. Its members are chosen by Starfleet Command, the Federation Council, and the Federation Shipwrights Association. All Starfleet design applications and revisions pass through here after an initial nod from the Submissions Section.

Another department of the ASDB is the Alien Spacecraft Studies and Observation Group (ASSOG), whose duties include studying and, in some cases, implementing the tech and designs of spacefaring vessels from worlds outside the Federation. This group often works closely with Starfleet Intelligence covertly to obtain information on the capabilities of vessels belonging to non-aligned powers. See also: Xenotechnology Research Division

One of the most influential and far-sighted heads of the ASDB was Admiral Batelle Toh. A major designer and proponent of the Sabre class during the 2340-50s, he scoffed at Starfleet Command's obsession with bigger, yet underpowered and inefficient ships. He was appointed to lead the ASDB after one of its darker times---the disasterous Battle of Wolf 359---when no Starfleet design proved immune from the Borg attack. Despite the call for Federation "superships" to fight back, Admiral Toh advocated small, fast, heavily armed ship types. His teams would design some of the best "little" vessels ever to carry the Starfleet colors: the Defiant, Nova, Hornet, and Sunbird classes.