The BoP is included here only in
case someone should miss it. It is not a regular starship of the
Cardassian military. For more about the BoP, see Klingon
Ships.
The Bok'Nor was destroyed
through sabotage in DS9: "The Maquis". It is a re-use of the
versatile Merchantman from "Star Trek III".
The structure is exactly the same, only that the Cardassian version is
painted ochre and with a Cardassian emblem.
This type of freighter is used by the Bajorans as well as the
Cardassians.
Known ships
No name given
Annotations
The freighter appeared as a part
of a Cardassian convoy the Defiant was supposed to protect in 2372
when it was attacked by the Klingons (DS9: "Rules of
Engagement").
The freighter appeared as a part
of a Cardassian convoy the Defiant was supposed to protect in 2372
when it was attacked by the Klingons (DS9: "Rules of
Engagement").
In TNG: "The Wounded"
the USS Phoenix attacked one Cardassian freighter which was
represented by the model of the Pakled ship.
The color was changed to a more intense ochre, according to Cardassian
design principles.
We might decide to keep the number of different Cardassian freighter
designs reasonable. If we don't look too closely, we
may claim that type 3 is identical or at least similar to type 1, even
if the model actually didn't have the warp nacelles.
The Galor class is the most powerful ship of the Cardassian military
as of 2367, but clearly inferior to Federation Galaxy class. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known ships
Aldara
Kraxon
Prakesh
Reklar
Trager
Vetar
Annotations
Rick Sternbach designed the
Galor for TNG: "The Wounded". 481m is the supposed original
design size of the ship at which it was shown in TNG. In the course of
DS9, the Galor was purportedly scaled to be only 372m
long (reference: DS9TM and David Stipes). On the other hand, we
have a clear shot of the Galor with the Defiant directly above it,
where the Cardassian ship must be about 500m long (and even larger if we
believe in a 170m Defiant). In DS9: "The Way of the Warrior"
the Galor is the same size as a Klingon Vor'cha, 481m. I think most battle scenes in
the Dominion War would corroborate a 481m Galor too.
The color of the deflector array at the very front of the ship was
originally yellow or orange in TNG: "The Wounded" and
"Ensign Ro". The color was later consistently switched to
red, also on the CGI versions for later seasons of DS9. Strangely the publicity
shots of the Galor on the box of the Ertl model kit or in Star
Trek Mechanics show a blue deflector like it was never on screen.
The Hideki is a small Cardassian warship with limited firepower. One
variant is operated on its own as a patrol ship, another one in fleet operations as
an attack fighter. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known ships
No name given
Annotations
The physical Hideki model was first used
in DS9: "Profit and Loss" and implicitly identified as a
shuttle, but it was more prominently identified as "Cardassian patrol ship, Hideki
class" in DS9: "Tribunal". The model's basic color is
gray as opposed to the usual Cardassian ochre or brown. The plasma
glow is bluish. There is something like a cockpit window, indicating a
small size of the vessel. Still, the comparison to Deep Space 9 in
"Profit and Loss" shows a ship close to 100m length, quite
large for an alleged "shuttle".
A CGI model of the Hideki was built for the
Dominion War episodes. While the basic proportions seem to be the
same, some details were altered. The cockpit windows are gone. But
most obviously the color is now the typical Cardassian ochre; the
plasma glow is yellow. We usually see the ship act as a fighter in the
big battles. It may be a matter of taste whether the two variants can
be still supposed to be the same class. I have decided to regard the
fighter as a Hideki variant, since the shape is the same and the size
is largely consistent.
The name "Hideki" is taken from a Japanese physicist. Of course, the Cardassians wouldn't name a ship class
for a human scientist, so the name must be a coincidence.
The DS9TM says: "One interesting note about the
Cardassian fighter is that the basic planform seems to have been
adapted from that of the USS Defiant, particularly in the forward
hull notch, bridge morphology, and aft hull assembly. Starfleet is of
the opinion that some classified design documentation may have been
compromised." The fighter resembles the
Defiant indeed, but the suggestion that the two designs could have
influenced each other in any way is silly. What use could the
Defiant's mere superficial shape have for a Cardassian ship with
completely different technology, and how could the Cardassians come up
with a plagiarized design so quickly, even sooner as the Federation with
the Defiant? Like many other things in the DS9TM starship section,
I'm
ignoring this notion which is just bad speculation.
The Keldon class is based on the Galor class. The hull is extended
with a large troop or cargo module on the top and two "tail
fins" of unknown purpose. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known ships
Koranak
Annotations
The Keldon makes its first
appearance in DS9: "Defiant" where its class seems to be
already known. Not the appearance of a new ship type, but rather the
fact that the Obsidian Order is building their own fleet of
Keldon-class ships, was the surprise to both the Cardassian military
and the Federation. Except for DS9: "The Die is Cast" where
a fleet of about ten of these ships is destroyed (the other ships
being Romulan Warbirds), the Keldon class never appears again.
The Keldons in "The Die is Cast" are capable of cloaking,
thanks to a technology transfer with the Romulan Tal Shiar.
Since the fleet that attacked the Founders' homeworld consisted of
nothing but Romulan D'deridex-class and Cardassian Keldon-class ships,
it is safe to assume that the Koranak was of the Keldon class,
although the ship was not visually identified in DS9: "The Die is
Cast".
Gul Dukat's Groumall
(DS9: "Return to Grace") was supposed to be smaller
than the later green Klingon variant, and since some details were changed
too (most notably nacelles were added), I no longer assume they are
the same size.
According to John Eaves's concept sketches as shown in Star Trek:
The Magazine, the bridge is located at the ship's rear end, above
the impulse engines.
This is a warp-capable self-guided tactical missile for large-scale planetary
attacks. It carries an explosive charge of 1000 kilograms matter and
1000 kilograms antimatter. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known probes
"Dreadnought"
Annotations
"Dreadnought" is the
nickname B'Elanna gave the weapon. The designation ATR-4107 is how
Dreadnought referred to itself, although it is unlikely that the
Cardassian would use Latin letters or anything comparable. The DS9TM mentions a "heavy penetrator" in
the assessment of the Cardassian war industry which could stand for
this type of weapon.
Class
specifications
Length: approx. 100m
Max. speed: Warp 9
Monac type
General
description
The Monac Shipyards consist of several large structures connected to
each other.
Known stations
No name given
Annotations
The CGI model used for the shipyards in
DS9: "Shadows and Symbols" is a still coarse prototype of what would become the
more detailed repair facility in "Tacking
into the Wind" (see below). The round central complexes of the
Monac Shipyards are connected with arms to which smaller drydocks are
attached. These are missing on the repair station. The structures of
the Monac Shipyards have to be much larger anyway. Each of the small
drydocks is large enough for a Galor-class vessel. A Jem'Hadar fighter
has about the same size relative to the repair station as these little
"spiders". The repair station is about 1400m across as
listed below, while one central complex of the Monac Shipyards
measures roughly 3500m.
Because of the similarity to the repair station, I assume that the shipyards were already
built by the Cardassians, although they are called "Dominion
shipyards".
This large type of Cardassian space stations consists of a central
core, a habitat ring, a docking ring, three upper and three lower
docking pylons. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known stations
Empok Nor
Terok Nor (later: Deep Space 9)
Annotations
The assumption that the type
of this station could be named "Nor" is somewhat conjectural
but would be very fitting (although we don't know what "Nor"
means). There may be more stations of this type. It is not clear if
all of them serve to process ore, though. Empok Nor was said to be
largely identical to Terok Nor, but we don't know where and how the
station was in service before it was abandoned apparently in open
space.
The original design size of Deep Space 9 was 3600 feet or 1097m, as the window heights and the
diameter of the promenade deck and especially the diameter of the Ops
easily prove. One reason for scaling the station up was probably to
make it simply more "important". The other reason may have
been to allow a Galaxy- or Nebula-class ship to dock underneath the
upper pylon which would be easier at a total diameter of significantly
more than 1000m. In some shots with a Nebula-class ship (and in the opening
credits since the 4th season) the station seems to be even more than 2km
wide. The 1451m diameter in the DS9TM is actually a compromise between
these two extremes. Nevertheless, I tend to ignore the rather few
shots with the Nebula and go with the design size, in order to
match the interior and exterior sets. It would also help to
keep the Defiant consistently at 120m instead of 170m, considering
that 120m/170m for the Defiant is roughly the same as 1097m/1451m for
Deep Space 9.
The orbital defense platforms are employed by the Cardassians to
protect a planet against an invasion, in particular in the Chin'toka
system. Equipped with superior offensive technology in the form of 1000 plasma torpedoes, the drawback is that the regenerative shielding
of the platforms is dependent on a
central shield generator. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
The relay probe was built in a joint venture of the Cardassians with
the Bajorans in 23??. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known probes
No name given
Annotations
The relay probe was first
shown in DS9: "Destiny", where it allowed subspace communication
with the Gamma Quadrant through the Bajoran Wormhole. The probe was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar in
2373 (DS9: "By Inferno's Light").
The model of Amargosa Station from "Star Trek
Generations" was redressed to act as the much smaller relay
probe. Essentially the two long arms were shortened by taking away
some of the sections and putting on the end caps again. The pole on
the bottom side of the station was removed together with the struts
running between the pole and the arms. There were similar struts on
the upper side, close to the arms themselves. These struts are missing
too on the relay model. The receiver was removed from the focus of the
antenna dish. The vertical arm is still the same as on the Amargosa
station, although it was cut off from the Fact Files image.
Oddly, the lighting of the relay model is the same as of Amargosa
station, so it seems there are inhabitable rooms on the tiny probe.
The repair facility is a space station with large arms at each of
which a at least one starship can be
serviced. The facility is also equipped with several shuttlebays. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known stations
No name given
Annotations
The repair facility, located in
the Kelvas system, appeared in
DS9: "Tacking into the Wind", a refined version of the Monac type (see
above). Among several other details, additional spikes and domes were
added to the top of the mushroom-like central structure.
Class
specifications
Diameter: approx. 1400m
Shuttle
General
description
This Cardassian shuttle is about 15m long and is capable of carrying
at least four persons.
Known shuttles
No name given
Annotations
The shuttle is a re-use of
the Cardassian Hideki class, scaled down to a size where it would
have to be less than 20m long compared to a Jem'Hadar fighter in DS9: "Tacking into the
Wind". There are some modifications to the CGI model that may
help to accept the much smaller size. The protruding structures on the
top side are taller. The fork at the aft end was shortened, and
something inserted between the two arms that looks like a propulsion
system. It should be
noted that Hideki-class ships have been used as shuttles before, but
it was always possible to claim that they are much longer than
20m.
Class
specifications
Length: approx. 15m
Shuttle type 2
General
description
Nothing is known about this small craft.
Known shuttles
No name given
Annotations
A boxy shuttle type was in the
shuttlebay of the moon base at Chin'toka in DS9: "Tears of the
Prophets".
Nothing is known about this small craft used at a Cardassian
repair facility. It may be manned or automated. Gallery:
Cardassian Starships
Known shuttles
No name given
Annotations
The workpod could be only faintly
seen near the repair facility in DS9: "Tacking into the
Wind". The CGI model, with a different color, with some detail changes and without the outrigger, would later appear as Assan's
shuttle.
Class
specifications
None available
Uncertain
Cardassian Class
These are vehicles depicted in the DS9
Technical Manual. They were never shown on screen, but their appearance in
this official reference book may qualify them as quasi-canon.
Starfleet has studied at least one type of probes used by the
Cardassians.
Known probes
No name given
Annotations
The DS9TM shows a
Cardassian probe, but doesn't give us any details on it. With its
similarity to the (a million times larger) Galor-class cruiser the
depicted probe looks just incredibly silly. I don't (want to) believe
that it exists.
Before they were largely replaced by Starfleet ASRVs, the station
Terok Nor was equipped with lifeboats of Cardassian design.
Known shuttles
No name given
Annotations
DS9: "Visionary"
confirms the existence of lifeboats on Deep Space 9. The DS9TM
depicts and describes a Cardassian type of lifeboats of which 12 are
supposedly retained at Deep Space 9, upgraded to interplanetary
flight.
Class
specifications
Width: 3.7m
Height: 4.7m
Unknown
Cardassian Class
Kornaire,
first posting of Dukat as a glinn, mentioned in DS9: "Waltz"
Manora shipyards,
potential Klingon attack target in DS9: "Once More Unto the Breach"
Outpost 47,
located in the DMZ, mentioned in DS9: "Defiant"
Rabol,
transport, transferred Gul Dukat to Deep Space 9 in DS9: "Indiscretion"
Ravinok,
transport, portions of the hull of the crashed ship visible in DS9:
"Indiscretion"
The little visible portion didn't allow to identify a class.
Tevak shipyards,
mentioned to have been sabotaged by the Cardassian resistance in DS9: "When
It Rains..."