A New Orleans-class frigate leading a frigate wing.
A wing (also called an attack wing or a unit) was a designation used for a fairly small grouping of starships by various militaries.
Federation[]
In the Federation Starfleet it was a grouping of between four and ten starships usually commanded by a senior captain. Multiple wings were usually grouped into a tactical wing.[1]
There were three types of wings. If a wing was made up of only one class of starship then it was referred to as a class wing, for example if it was made up of Excelsior-class starships it would be referred to as an Excelsior wing. This was the most common wing organisation as ships of the same class worked well together and could resupply each other.[1]
A five ship cruiser wing.
Wings made up of similar types of starships were referred to as type wings, for example cruiser wing, or carrier wing.[1]
Finally, destroyer wings were mixed matched wings of vessels no larger then a cruiser.[1]
Wings did not have permanent designation as tactical wings did. If multiple fleets combined forces the 4th destroyer wing from one fleet might be changed to 12th destroyer wing as part of the combined force.[1]
See also[]
References[]
External link[]
Attack wing article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.