In the late 2370's, Starfleet was looking for a new vessel design that would ensure the saftey of the Federation for years to come. While the Qapla' class ships were certainly adequate, the Dominion War of 2376 proved that there was no such thing as too much firepower.
The result was the Draco class attack cruiser, first comissioned in 2381. While at first Starfleet took pride in this new class of ship, they quickly found out that the Draco left much to be desired.
First off, Dracos lack shielding. While quite common nowadays on large vessels, the Draco's armor had to be extremley heavy to make up for this, and as a result, the Draco is an very slow ship at sublight speeds.
Making this shortcoming ever worse is the fact that the GLG-25 and GLG-27 disruptors have a very inaccurate targeting computer, making it nearly impossible to score hits on fighters and other small vessels. The phaser banks are even worse, lacking the proper amount of power feed and taking extended lengths of time to charge, giving enemy ships a chance to evade.
The Draco's torpedo system is more than adaquate, with an extremley fast loading mechanism and excellent targeting computer. However, the store of 1,000 torpedoes is exhausted quickly if conservative tactics are not used.
One Draco-unique feature is the separable module located in the aft section of the ship. Capable of transwarp flight and carrying ample weaponry, this 'separable hull' section can be used to the Draco's tactical advantage.
The shuttlebay of Draco attack cruisers is also quite extensive, holding 114 vessels of five different classes.
In summary, the Draco's shortcomings outweigh its major features, making the Draco a decent ship for multi-vessel fleets.
