Who says it isn't a deflector? I say it is.
And I say its retroactive late TNG/DS9 writers getting too excited about the interface between real world and Trek physics.
Reliant doesn't have a big round (or square) blue glowy bit at the front because the production designers and model makers never put one there.
It wasn't "left out by accident". It was because no where in Trek Lore at that stage did it state that every starship must have a big dish facing front as a space broom.
Their are plenty of Fed and other designs that don't have "deflectors" as such.
Counter argument:
Ships hull need protection from space crud while moving at sub-light speeds (don't go into whether you need it in Warp Space, its never even indicated there is
anything in Warp Space to hit)
Known fact: Gravity and force field/force shield technology is common place in Trek.
Simple solution is to have a low power force field around the hull to splatter any particles that get in the way.
Since shields are generated from emitters all over the hull, you don't need a specific emitter at the front.
Yah, I know; "but hitting any object at near relativistic speeds creates XXXXX
uber energy which will go through anything"
Think about it, shields can absorb phaser, disruptor and photon torpedo hits. Thats kinetic and energy impact well above any little bit of space-snot that drifts into your path.
Common pre Next Gen descriptor was that the dish and subsequent "blue eye" were/are a combination long range sensor + deflectors emitter and receivers. Like having radar in an aircraft, a very useful, versatile and common device but not actually essential for the plane to fly.
Maybe why explorer ships all have them whereas a more "Gunboat" orientated ship like
Reliant and her sisters don't?
The real world answer is more likely you just need something visually interesting to fill in the front of the secondary hull.
Da Fox
