Completely off topic, but I always wondered what was so special about Deep Space 9's USS Defiant and its "ablative armour". Sure, it was a plot device, but everyone who encountered it seemed astounded by it.
I think it is important to note the Federation previously wasn’t in the business of building warships. They are so technically advanced, they didn’t need them.
As a friend of mine put it:
Everyone’s best warships are in a dead heat with a luxury liner full of nerds that happens to have guns on it.
Starfleet ships didn’t need armor. Their materials science was already so advanced, they had to use structural integrity and dampening fields to push beyond what existing physical materials could accomplish.
So when they roll out an actual warship using physical armor plating, it is an incredible advancement in materials beyond “simple” energy-reinforced hulls.
Alternatively, it’s really boring technology but the idea of a Starfleet warship is so new they are salivating over things everyone else has been using for centuries. It’s like giving a tank to a soccer mom and telling her to have fun in traffic.
Also off topic, but your comment "It's like giving a tank to a soccer mom and telling her to have fun in traffic" reminds me of the 1995 San Diego Tank Rampage where a guy stole a tank from a Nat'l Guard base and took it on the freeway.
Instead of expending energy to deflect energy weapons fire, the ablative armor undergoes controlled ablation so the outer layers of the armor vaporize or erode when struck by weapon fire, taking the brunt of the attack's energy. This meant that the "total energy" available to defend the ship wasn't limited by the ship's power but by the starbase assembling the ship and the armor could survive a lot more malfunction and battle damage (the shields became completely useless once they burned out). Until the introduction of the armor everyone thought that physical defenses couldn't be used effectively against energy weapons.
Voyager's ablative generator also provided regenerative capability so it didn't need a space dock to repair heavy damage.
As a friend of mine put it:
Everyone’s best warships are in a dead heat with a luxury liner full of nerds that happens to have guns on it.
Starfleet ships didn’t need armor. Their materials science was already so advanced, they had to use structural integrity and dampening fields to push beyond what existing physical materials could accomplish.
So when they roll out an actual warship using physical armor plating, it is an incredible advancement in materials beyond “simple” energy-reinforced hulls.
Alternatively, it’s really boring technology but the idea of a Starfleet warship is so new they are salivating over things everyone else has been using for centuries. It’s like giving a tank to a soccer mom and telling her to have fun in traffic.