The Galor is the mainstay of the Cardassian fleet, making up over half of their total Naval forces. When it first entered service in the 2340's the Galor was intended to oppose smaller and older vessels such as the Miranda, Excelsior, Norway and New Orleans classes. Initially the Cardassians wanted to also develop a much larger, more powerful design to oppose the Ambassador and Akira and the upcoming Nebula design, but this proved to beyond their resources and the project was dropped in its early stages. Instead it was decided to build a very large number of Galor class ships and operate 'hunter packs' of two or three together against the more powerful Starfleet ships.

The Galor is a rugged, sensible design. The engineering section is mounted at the forward end of the single hull structure, a move which puts the drive systems well forward of the centre of gravity. This makes the design inherently stable in all flight regimes, greatly simplifying many of the control systems - although it does reduce the vessels manoeuvrability somewhat. The single high power phaser bank is located directly ahead of the engineering area, reducing the length of conduit between the warp core and the weapon which increases the systems resilience to battle damage. The control spaces are directly above the blades on the vessels centreline, while the long narrow hull projecting aft from them holds the fuel tanks, habitation areas and other less essential systems.

The use of a powerful phaser bank was intended to allow the Galor to blast through the shields of an enemy vessel in just a few bursts, a philosophy which has proved somewhat optimistic over the years. The phaser is roughly equal to a Starfleet Type IX model, which is very powerful for a ship the size of the Galor. But the single installation gives the Galor a relatively poor firing arc for this weapon, something not improved by the ships low manoeuvrability. The medium power phaser banks are roughly equal to a Type VII phaser, which is more in line with the Galors size.

Originally it was planned to use burst fire torpedo systems, but as with the Romulans the Cardassians have had great difficulty developing this technology to the point where it can be used safely and effectively. The Galor thus has two standard torpedo tubes, one forward and one aft. The extra room this left over allowed the torpedo complement to be increased from a planned 160 to 200.

The Galor has generally proved a useful enough vessel for the Cardassian military, but it is not really a serious competitor with the Federation Nebula class or Klingon Vor'Cha. The planned run of three thousand or more ships never materialized, and only eighteen hundred were in service when the Klingons invaded Cardassia in 2372. This conflict clearly emphasized the Cardassian fleets inferiority; some three hundred Galor class ships were destroyed within less than a week at the hands of the Klingon fleet. The chaos caused by that invasion has severely disrupted the resources of the Cardassian military, already stretched thin during the revolution on Cardassia. Although Cardassia itself is now a Dominion member, their own fleet is not thought to be receiving a great deal of support from the Dominion and its ability to conduct operations, especially beyond the Cardassian border, is thought to be seriously compromised. The Galors have suffered heavily at the hands of the allies during the war, with over six hundred kills to date.

The Keldon class is the most powerful vessel in the Cardassian fleet. Essentially an enlarged and up-rated Galor class vessel, the Keldon class is an improvement on its predecessor in almost every respect. The secondary armament has been boosted from six to twelve phaser banks, while the primary phaser has been upgraded to put it on a par with a Type X phaser array. The photon tubes are capable of firing at more than twice the rate of the Galor class tubes, and the Keldon includes a great deal of new sensor and computer equipment designed to increase its ability to target vessels under cloak or capable of a high level of manoeuvrability. The shield system has been heavily upgraded, while the hull beneath has received a layer of high density armour plate.

While these measures put the Keldon class significantly above the Galor, they still do not rank with the larger, more sophisticated ships that the larger alpha quadrant forces can field. The Cardassians planned to produce the Keldon in huge numbers to compensate for this - over three hundred were planned, but the difficulties suffered by Cardassia in the last few years have made this more a fond hope than a realistic plan.

This information is courtesy of the Daystrom Institute Technical Library and copyright Graham Kennedy