The audience asks whether Peregrines might have been a reserve component because they are not seen in combat before the Dominion War. Their military use appears to be a post-Wolf-359 development influenced by the Maquis, whose modified craft demonstrated what the small design could do. Their apparent availability and weak security suggest that the basic courier was already common even if a formal fighter force was not. Starfleet's ability to convert Galaxy-class ships into carriers then looks like mobilization built around an existing civilian or paramilitary airframe rather than the sudden invention of an entirely new aircraft.
Notable Point · 2:26:38-2:29:20
From courier craft to a Starfleet fighter force
Peregrines appear less like a long-standing carrier arm than a widely available courier design adapted by the Maquis and then folded into Starfleet's post-crisis mobilization.