The Liburnian-class warship was a rare type of Cardassian warship, one of the most powerful existing in their fleet. In its appearance, the Liburnian is exceedingly long and thin, with proportions causing it to resemble a spear-tipped lance. Unlike the more common Galor class starship, a Liburnian was more capable of holding its own against the Federation Galaxy-class ship such as the USS Enterprise-D, though in the estimation of Gul Verden, this would prove a challenging gamble.
In the Liburnian's favor versus a Galaxy-class starship was its more powerful reactor system and armaments. Its greatest weakness, however, was its poor maneuverability and the concentration of most of its weapons in the bow area, preventing it from directing the brunt of its powerful salvos at an enemy on its flank. Additionally, the one known example of the Liburnian class, the Fatal Arrow, appeared to have poor anti-virus countermeasures in its communications and computer network systems; when replying to a Ferengi hail, they experienced almost immediate system failures from a computer worm.
Liburnian-class warships also possess a self-destruct system equivalent to a hundred gigaton fusion bomb, capable of irradiating an entire planet to the point of rendering it uninhabitable if detonated in orbit. Even when removed to the distance of the Earth to the Moon, the resulting fallout still triggered aurora displays across the planet of Megara. (TNG novel: Debtors' Planet)
Known vessels[]
Starship classes of the Cardassian Union | ||
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Named classes | Akril • Bok'Nor • Brinok • Bruja • Damar (destroyer) • Damar (dreadnought) • Galor • Groumall • Gul Vystan • Hideki • Hutet • Hybrid • Janissary • Keldon • Kulinor • Legate • Liburnian • Nerok • Netel • Neterok • Norin • Ranol • Rasilak • Sartan • Selek • Telok • Tonga • Toran • Vasad • Vinca • Yrcan • Zhoden | |
Unnamed classes by type/description | colony ship • construction ship • cruiser • dreadnought missile • mining freighter • repair ship • survey vessel • fighter • shuttlecraft |