On paper, it packed the armament and endurance of a light cruiser but geopolitical considerations resulted in it being classified under an ambiguous "Escort" or "Frigate" type. The Saber class was conceived as a durable, medium range escort and defensive starship designed to protect Federation interests along the volatile Cardassian border. A new starship class would need to be designed and fielded immediately or the Federation's outlying positions would soon become untenable. Existing starships of the type needed, such as the Miranda class, were long out of production and approaching the end of their service lives. Starfleet simply did not have enough numbers in the region to enforce policy without withdrawing forces from the Tzenkethi region, a species regarded as a greater threat at the time.
Since the border region geographically favored the Cardassian side whose starbases, shipyards, and supply lines were much closer to the boundary, frequent incursions often left distant Federation colonies and outposts outnumbered and overwhelmed by fast Cardassian raiders.
During the early phases of the low intensity but persistent Cardassian Border Wars (circa 2350), the need for a small, well armed, maneuverable starship grew apparent as Starfleet's overreliance on large, long-range cruisers regularly left Federation presence spread thin along the border.
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