The Sutherland type is equipped with a heavy ordinance pod and is hence primarily a combat vessel. The engineering department and main bridge are allocated less space, to provide room for scientific equipment. The Phoenix type is equipped with a full battery of sensors and scanners in its pod, it's primarily a science vessel and long-range surveyor. The layout of the interiors of each variant are slightly different. Because of similarities between the Phoenix type pod (The Nebula class's original configuration) and the 'rollbar' design of the Miranda class, the Nebula class is sometimes referred to as the '24th century Miranda class'. A Nebula class starship can be refit with a different type of pod at any starbase within a week, greatly increasing its versatility over the Galaxy Class. A unique characteristic of the Nebula class is the multi-mission pod above and to the aft of the engineering hull. Many of the engineers from the Galaxy class design team were pulled off of the Galaxy project, much to their disappointment. The reasoning behind it was to create a more-cost effective alternative to the Galaxy class. The Nebula design project was intiated concurrently with the Galaxy project. Its design is closely related to that of the Galaxy-class.Ītop the engineering hull is a superstructure which can support a variety of equipment, such as sensor platforms, additional warp nacelles, and torpedo launchers.'

'The Nebula class was a type of Federation starship that was in service in Starfleet during the latter half of the 24th century.

Nebula class starship model