Submitted in the early 2340's, the brief called for a multi-mission heavy cruiser capable of transport, deep space assignments and combat mission. As the Galaxy class project was already underway, the Akira project was parts of Starfleet cutbacks and was shelved. The five spaceframes that were already assembled were taken to the Saturn Storage Depot.

As with the Nebula class, the Akira takes the modular design to the limit featuring interchangable modules that can be fitted in a matter of hours at any starbase which keeps 10 modules on hand, ready for each ship. This makes the Akira remarkably superior to the Nebula class, but the ships were not actually completed until 20 years after the Nebula class was well into service. In retrospect, it was actually a good thing for the Akira class to be put on hold, because in the early 2370's when the vessel's were entering service, they made use of the best technological advances the federation had made.

The Akira class is an incredibly powerful warship and is a formidable foe in battle. Much like the commanders of the Miranda class, the commanders of the Akira class have an incredible warship with a sophisticated armament package at there disposal. The Akira is armed with 6 type X phaser emitters, 4 type XII emitters and 15 pulse fire photon torpedo launchers, which gives the Akira class an edge when facing larger ships in battle.

The class features an unusual mixture of designs such as the standard federation saucer, however one of the more unusual features is the dual secondary hull, shaped like a catamaran. The modular "rollover" bar houses the primary weapons module on the Akira class, much like the rollbar on the Miranda class.