Llaiir'Dhael class

The Llaiir'Dhael class (Firehawk; FHA) was a type of warbird that was designed and built in the late 23rd century to counter the Federation Excelsior class. It was the heavy cruiser version of the D'Vorx-class light cruiser. Although this ship could be constructed with different modules, any given ship carried a single module type throughout its entire lifespan. (TOS video game: Starfleet Command)

History and variants

The Llaiir'Dhael class had several sub-variants throughout its life. It was used well into the 24th century, and it even served in the Dominion War, despite the age of the design. Some of these ships had two warp nacelles inboard; other ships of any of the Llaiir'Dhael sub-classes had four warp nacelles placed outward. (RIS Bouteina)

Firehawk-K variant

A Firehawk-A (FHA) could be refitted with K-modules, producing a Firehawk-K (FHK). This was an extensive refit, however. (TOS video game: Starfleet Command I) K-modules added disruptor firepower to the ship, even though no plasma tubes were added.

Novahawk

The Novahawk (NHK) was the Heavy Command cruiser of the Firehawk series. It only carried K-modules. (TOS video game: Starfleet Command I)

Regalhawk

This ship was another Romulan effort to deploy more Type-R torpedoes. A variant of the Firehawk, the Regalhawk (RGK) was less expensive and slightly less capable than the Royalhawk. These ships rarely operated alone, not from doctrine, but because their heavy torpedoes were in high demand for the most important attacks. (TOS video game: Starfleet Command I)

The TOS video games Starfleet Command I and II ranked plasma torpedo launchers by the sizes of the largest casings these launchers could fire. Type-R plasma torpedo launchers were the largest and were first fielded by the Romulans. Type-S casings were somewhat smaller and had less range than Type-R casings. Type-G torpedoes were first fielded by the Gorns. Finally, Type-F torpedoes formed the basis of Federation (and later Romulan) phased plasma torpedoes and were the smallest casings available.

Royalhawk

The Royalhawk (RHK) was a limited-production variant of the Novahawk. It was designed to field the massive Type-R plasma torpedo in greater numbers to counter the Gorn Strike cruiser. Like the Novahawk and its more modern cousins, it only carried K-modules. This ship could be considered a Heavy Battle cruiser back in the late 23rd century. (TOS video game: Starfleet Command I)

Killerhawk

The ultimate expansion of the Heavy Hawk designs, the Killerhawk (KHK) was essentially an attempt to build a pocket Dreadnought. This design was not considered successful since it placed too many weapons on too small of a hull. The maintenance cost to support this ship was far higher than any other Firehawk design. Only a few were built. (TOS video game: Starfleet Command I)

Imperium

The next vessel in the Romulan fleet was the Imperium-class heavy battlecruiser. This vessel featured a striking design, with a massive command boom protruding from the center of the vessel and elegant wings, like its other siblings in the Heavy Hawk series. This vessel was introduced by the Romulan navy in the mid-2280s, although few have been encountered as of the General War. It appears this vessel carried only two warp nacelles, but it was possible two more warp cores were embedded in the twin catamaran primary hulls on either side of the warship. (TOS video game: Klingon Academy)

Known ships

• Novahawk subclass
  • IRW Llhrei'sian-A (hospital ship) (RIS Bouteina: "Take Me Out to the Zoo")
• Royalhawk subclass
  • IRW Exaccus (destroyed in 2374)

External link

• Imperium class article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.