A Strike Cruiser was a type of Federation Starship in the 23rd century, a modification of the Constitution class starship.
23rd Century: []
A Strike Cruiser, also known as a Fast Cruiser was intended to take advantage of Federation engine technology to "Get there the firstest with the mostest" in the words of Nathan Bedford Forest.
As with battle cruisers, strike cruisers used cruiser hulls, but leveraged in favor of combat, discarding the multi-role abilities of a the Constitution class.
These ships proved popular for SAR missions as they had the speed to respond to a crisis area in a reasonable time. They also proved popular for other crises response roles.
Lessons learned by the Strike Cruisers and the roles that crews in the field found for them informed designs of subsequent cruisers.
Although technically retired to the ready reserve with the Khitomer Accords, the Strike Cruiser types were often used up doing their SAR and crises response missions until the hulls aged out.