Cardassian starships

This is a list of starship classes in use by the Cardassian Union in the Star Trek fictional universe.

Galor class
The Galor class is a group of starships used by the Cardassian Union. Galor class destroyers have a low profile, are long and narrow and are usually painted in a burnt orange color. The ship has a special raised semicircular 'head' at the front, containing the bridge and command section; this head contains one yellow impulse engine. The navigational deflector dish and forward disruptor cannon occupy the bow; the deflector color may vary from blue to yellow or orange. Two additional impulse engines, various disruptor cannons and two warp engines are embedded in two large fin-shaped extensions to port and starboard. A fork-shaped disruptor beam weapon sits at the far aft protecting the stern. According to the non-canon Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Starfleet Intelligence believed that 63 new Galor class starships were built in an average year. The Galor class starship is the backbone of the Cardassian fleet, much like the Excelsior class starship is to Starfleet, and formed the basis for the Keldon class starship.

In the episode The Wounded, a single ship proved to be no match for the Galaxy Class Enterprise D, though due to ships the following season being described as "type III", it is unclear what the standard tactical value of the ship is. The presence of subtypes may also help to explain the description of the weapons systems variously as phasers, disruptors, and phase-disruptors.

In reality, the Galor class was designed by Rick Sternbach for Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Known Galor class destroyers

 * The Aldara
 * Commanded by Gul Danar, the Aldara searched for Bajoran terrorist Tahna Los after he stole an antimatter converter from a Cardassian outpost in 2369.
 * The Bralek
 * Commanded by Gul Ocett, the Bralek was assigned to decode a four-billion-year-old genetically encoded message from an ancient humanoid species circa stardate 46731.5 in 2369. The Bralek later attacked the Klingon Vor'cha class Maht-H'a and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) over Loren III to prevent them from decoding the message.
 * The Galor
 * The starship Galor is the pathfinder of its class.
 * The Kraxon
 * Commanded by Gul Ranor, the Kraxon was ordered to search for the USS Defiant (NX-74205) when she was hijacked by Maquis terrorists led by Tom Riker in 2371. The Kraxon later took custody of Tom Riker.
 * The Prakesh
 * Commanded by Gul Dukat, the Prakesh helped save members of the Detapa Council in 2372. The Prakesh was destroyed by Klingon forces later during the Klingon-Cardassian war.
 * The Reklar
 * Commanded by Gul Lemec in 2369, the Reklar rendezvoused with the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) circa stardate 46357.4 to conduct peace talks. At the same time, the Reklar was the flagship of a Cardassian invasion force to the Minos Korva system.
 * The Trager
 * Commanded by Gul Macet in 2367, the Trager attacked the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) circa stardate 44429.6 in response to attacks in Cardassian space by the Nebula class USS Phoenix (NCC-65420).
 * The Vetar
 * Commanded by Gul Evek, the Vetar surveyed Dorvan V prior to her handover to the Cardassian Union circa stardate 47751.2 in 2370. Later that year, the Vetar was attacked by Maquis fighters circa stardate 47941.7, suffering heavy damage, and was assisted by the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). The Vetar was either heavily damaged, disabled, or destroyed by a plasma storm in the Badlands while pursuing a Maquis ship commanded by Commander Chakotay circa stardate 48315.6 in 2371. Fate uncertain.

Hideki class
The Hideki-class starship is a small attack craft composed of a semi-ellipse fore with a short aft extension ending in a pincer-shaped disruptor weapon. Due to the ship's limited offensive power the Hideki class is confined to border patrol duties during peace time. During the Dominion War the class was present in several major conflicts, they operate in large groups and swarm enemy ships, this allows them to overpower much heavier vessels.

Keldon class
Keldon class warships are similar to Galor class starships but have superior firepower. They are long and narrow, with a raised semicircle 'head' at the front, two large fin-shaped extensions to port and starboard near the front, and a fork-shaped disruptor weapon at the far aft.

The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Defiant" introduced the Keldon class when Thomas Riker reveals that the Obsidian Order was maintaining a number of enhanced Keldon class starships in the Orias system. The Order later used these ships, which also had cloaking devices, in conjunction with the Romulan Tal Shiar to attack the Dominion ("The Die is Cast"). Those were the only two episodes in which this class was featured. Keldon-class ships were mentioned by name by Lt. Dax in "The Die is Cast".

The Keldon class model was a modification, made by Tony Meininger, of the Galor class warship, originally built by Ed Miarecki.

Dreadnought
Dreadnought, also known as missile ATR-4107, is an automated Cardassian weapon capable of unleashing massive destruction. Although officially referred to as a missile, it can also be considered a completely autonomous warship in its own right.

It was a warp-capable vessel carrying 1,000 kilograms of matter and 1,000 kilograms of antimatter — enough to destroy a small moon. The missile also carried a large cache of conventional weaponry, and was heavily shielded. Its onboard computer featured sophisticated artificial intelligence that used probabilistic reasoning and game theory to identify and neutralize any threat to its mission. Only one vessel is known to have been constructed.

The Cardassians sent Dreadnought to destroy a Maquis base. Though it penetrated Maquis defenses, the warhead failed to detonate, and the missile was captured and reprogrammed by then-Maquis agent B'Elanna Torres. Torres then sent Dreadnought to destroy a planet with a Cardassian target. However, it disappeared in the Badlands and was presumed destroyed, when in fact it was taken to the Delta Quadrant by the same phenomenon that later abducted USS Voyager. Not realizing what had happened, it wandered the Delta Quadrant for more than two years searching for its target. Eventually it located a planet with a sufficiently close resemblance and attacked. Unfortunately, this planet was host to an innocent post-industrial society. In a stroke of luck and timing, though, Voyager discovered the missile en route, and Torres, serving as chief engineer, worked to disable it. Dreadnought was destroyed seconds before it would have murdered millions.

The Dreadnought missile model was designed by Rick Sternbach.

Hybrid class
Seen in the Star Trek: Bridge Commander video game, the Cardassian Hybrid is a mix of Cardassian and Kessok* design, and can only be described as a battleship. Like with most vessels, its main firepower is in the front, with a Cardassian Compressor, 2 Kessok Positrons, 2 fast and highly-powerful Antimatter Torpedo tubes and a slow but large and powerful disruptor cannon located at the front of the ship. Because the ship utilizes Kessok Positrons, it has beams on the ventral and dorsal sections of the ship that cover the immediate top and bottom. Finally, there is one Antimatter Torpedo tube at the rear of the vessel.

The Hybrid design is almost exactly like the Galor and Keldon classes. In fact, the center portion of the vessel is exactly the same in design. However, on the sides there are 2 "wings". These contain the Kessok Positrons and the forward Antimatter Torpedo tubes. At the ends on the "wings" are 2 Kessok warp engines, which add to the basic single warp engine at the rear of the main hull for a total of 3 warp engines (as opposed to the single warp engine on the Galor and Keldon). The Hybrid also has stronger shields and armour.


 * The Kessok are an alien race in Star Trek: Bridge Commander who are helping the Cardassians in fighting the Federation. No mention of the Kessok, the Cardassian Hybrid or anything from Star Trek: Bridge Commander has been referenced in the TV shows or movies, so the canonicity of the game is questioned.

Freighter
Cardassian freighters were types of freighters of various designs, utilized by the Cardassian Union during the 24th century. The freighters is a modular design, with a power system and warp and impulse engines in a stern section and the crew quarters, computer systems and bridge in the bow section. Among these designs were the Bok'Nor type, Cardassian supply ship, and Cardassian military freighter.