I can't help but note that with it's thin streamlined shape and relatively small size, it could probably be used as a detachable section for larger craft like what sometimes shows up in the franchise.
Modernize the components every few decades prioritizing reduced size over performance gain, trade out the torpedoes for some extra space or a science bay, the Phase Cannon for the latest generation of starship phaser, and suddenly you have an extremely versatile and warp-capable heavy shuttle attached to your ships.
It'd be absolutely overkill for the current conflict, but in a few decades, after the current war and subsequent pirate sweeps while waiting to see if peace'll stick, and they're left with a massive fleet of these space-hotrods with nukes? Yeah, I could see more than a few admirals pulling one of these from mothballs to tinker with, and then trying to get their passion project officially adopted. It's not like the same thing didn't happen a few times in canon, and doing it with one of these is a lot more reasonable than what they got up to with the larger mothballed ships...
