There are three shuttlebays on the Thunderchild, located in the
rear of the catamaran hull beams on the secondary hull. There is one small
additional shuttlebay located on the aft of the saucer section. Since the
Akira Class Starship was designed as an small craft carrier and a dispatcher
during the Dominion War, much of it's structure; comparatively more than other
Starfleet ships, is dedicated to the large shuttlebays. In times of peace,
the tactical fighters which once dominated the spacecraft supply, is now shared
with other spacecraft. These includes scout ships, runabouts, and other small
utility spacecraft used in for an array of different purposes in
assistance to tasks that may be required to be performed.
There is one maintenance apparatus located in every shuttlebay that can accommodate
one large vehicles and four small ones simultaneously. The maintenance
complex performs repairs and construction mainly of shuttlecraft, but
can also be used for construction of other large machines or vehicles.
