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Okay, I have looked through all the ships that were compared to the Galor class vessel. They are listed as such, from strongest to weakest:


Excelsior Class original: 1,301
Excelsior Class 1701-B: 414
Excelsior Class original: 374
Galor Class: 347 AT MAXIMUM!
New Orleans Class: 328
Norway Class: 303
Miranda Class: 262

Now, while I am satisfied to say that the Cardassians have truly accomplished their mission on developing the Galor class to oppose smaller and older vessels such as the Miranda, Norway and New Orleans classes, I don't exactly see, WITH ALL the strength numbers counted or not, that this type of Cardassian vessel was exactly supposed to confront or otherwise engage the slightly larger AND stronger Excelsior class vessels. (ponders deep in thought) Maybe the Cardassians have some sort of secret weapon to otherwise wipe them out?

You are talking about fictional strength levels that ultimately do not matter.

However, going along the Galor class seems to get its butt kicked all the time. Off hand the only kill I can think of is the Breen vessel in the DS9 finale. The ship did dominate Chakotay's ship but that isn't saying too much.

Now, why would they build such weak ships? Well if the Cardassians are a resource poor empire then it makes sense. So they build ships in large numbers while not being small but can build them to overwhelm. It also explains the Keldons which looks like a Galor with an added thing on top.

Lastly in their first appearance the Galor was dominated by the E-D with little concern from Picard and crew.

Oh and they did have a secret weapon. It was Dreadnought

McAvoy wrote:You are talking about fictional strength levels that ultimately do not matter.

However, going along the Galor class seems to get its butt kicked all the time. Off hand the only kill I can think of is the Breen vessel in the DS9 finale. The ship did dominate Chakotay's ship but that isn't saying too much.

Now, why would they build such weak ships? Well if the Cardassians are a resource poor empire then it makes sense. So they build ships in large numbers while not being small but can build them to overwhelm. It also explains the Keldons which looks like a Galor with an added thing on top.

Lastly in their first appearance the Galor was dominated by the E-D with little concern from Picard and crew.

Oh and they did have a secret weapon. It was Dreadnought

About Dreadnought: Good point.

You're right and you do have a point. Still, according to the information I've gotten (which INCLUDES DITL and the Star Trek Bridge Commander manual), the Galor was supposed to be designed to surpass the Excelsior class. However, with all the technological superiority that the Galor is SUPPOSED to have over the Excelsior class (and it doesn't help that the Excelsior class was a 2280s design, whilst the Galor was a somewhat later design), the Excelsior class is apparently supposed to be stronger than the Galor class, which is exactly the OPPOSITE of what you would expect in a confrontation between the two.

Still, with all that is said and done, you do seem to have a point. Especially since it is common sense that the Enterprise-D would be able to outbest a Galor class, but then again, as you said, that's not exactly going on much you know?

Non canon data. You can think the Galor was designed to beat an Excelsior in combat and perhaps it's not a bad idea considering the Excelsior seems to be a dime an dozen in the fleet. However that would mean the Cardassians sold themselves short intentionally

Or you could think they are comparable to the Excelsior class but wasn't designed as such.

Plenty of scenes of a Galor being beat by someone.

I would assume the Cardassian built the best ship they could given their tech and resources to fill a gap in their military.

I always saw the Cardassians a solid step down from the Federation, Klingons and/or Romulans. They could make them hurt, but if any of those powers took it seriously the Union would be no more.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:I always saw the Cardassians a solid step down from the Federation, Klingons and/or Romulans. They could make them hurt, but if any of those powers took it seriously the Union would be no more.

Which is another reason they wanted to ally with the Dominion as higher tech would allow their ships to be more effective. Plus, the wormhole linking Cardassia to the Dominion is only a few light-years away from their homeworld, so it would allow a rapid dispersal of the knowledge.

Their current options are better training and discipline, so their crews make up the difference between their lower tech and enemy ships. No civilians to get in the way, no crazed berserkers to attack whatever is closest, and willing to make quick decisions instead of only long-term sneaky plotting.

Unfortunately, they still have the hierarchy, and members will hold back information if they think it will give them an advantage.

This is just my look on them. They seem to be that sort of over achieving race that builds and creates things that might be equivalent to either of the Big Three but it is a far less efficient and more bulky. That is how I view them.

Cutting edge technology is expensive and bleeding edge is even more so. I suspect they are more than willing to build ships using yesterday's technology than the latest and greatest due to that they might be a resource poor Empire. I even suspect their population might be on the small side of things.