The vessel possesses both impulse engines and warp drive, allowing for faster-than-light travel. In one episode of The Animated Series, ' More Tribbles, More Troubles', a D7-class battlecruiser is equipped with an experimental stasis weapon, capable of paralyzing target vessels. It is shown to be armed with several disruptor banks that fire in pulses, and in the remastered version, with a torpedo launcher in the forward module. The D7-class model was originally produced for The Original Series episode ' Elaan of Troyius' however, as the episodes were not aired in their production order, the vessel first appeared in ' The Enterprise Incident'. Jefferies's original model for the D7-class now resides in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, along with the original studio model for USS Enterprise. The spread-wing primary hull, long neck and bulbous command module configuration of the D7-class became the basic blueprint for Klingon vessels in the later television series. As Jefferies wanted the D7-class to appear 'threatening, even vicious', the design was modeled on a manta ray in both basic shape and color. The vessel was designed by Matt Jefferies to be distinctive and quickly recognized by viewers. The D7-class battlecruiser is the first Klingon starship observed in the Star Trek franchise. The vessel's basic configuration was used for all subsequent Klingon ships. The Original Series era D7-class The D7-class battlecruiser was designed by Matt Jefferies to mimic the appearance of a manta ray. Klingon ship names are usually preceded by the prefix 'IKS', an abbreviation for 'Imperial Klingon Starship'. The interior of Klingon vessels is utilitarian in nature: this is intended to mimic an old submarine. In the prequel television series Enterprise, Klingon ships are designed to appear more primitive than those chronologically later in the franchise. For The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, Klingon ships were designed by Rick Sternbach to reflect technology exchanges as a result of an alliance between the Klingons and Starfleet.

Later Klingon ships use cloaking devices.

Klingon vessels are usually depicted as being heavily armed, equipped with particle beam weapons called disruptors and photon torpedoes, an antimatter weapon, as primary offensive weaponry. In recent years, many of the original studio models have been sold at auctions.Īll Klingon ships are equipped with some form of sublight engine, and most of these ships are equipped with superluminal propulsion technology called warp drive. Most Klingon vessels were physically built as scale models, although later computer-generated imagery was used to create the models.

Though a variety of Klingon ships have appeared in Star Trek, their design generally conforms to this style. The configuration of Jefferies's design featured a bulbous forward hull connected by a long boom to a wing-like main hull with the engine nacelles mounted on each wingtip. The first Klingon ship design used in The Original Series, the D7-class battlecruiser, was designed by Matt Jefferies to evoke a shape akin to that of a manta ray, providing a threatening and instantly recognizable form for viewers. This contrasts with the exploration and research vessels used by Starfleet, the protagonists of the franchise. As the Klingons are portrayed as a warrior culture, driven by the pursuit of honor and glory, the Empire is shown to use warships almost exclusively and even their support ships, such as troop transports and colony ships, are armed for battle. In the Star Trek franchise, the Klingon Empire makes use of several classes of starships.

Klingon bird of prey interior