Star Trek: 10 Design Secrets Behind Iconic Ships

Just as the Enterprise-D grew out of the Enterprise-C when the need for The Next Generation’s Enterprise was realized, so too did the TNG production crew want a distinctive Klingon ship style of their own. That ship would be the Vor’cha class.

Rick Sternbach was the designer behind it. Even though of the opinion that the old D7-class design was growing a bit too familiar, he nevertheless felt it important to work the classic look into the new design, stating:

The original design style of the battle cruiser was never far from my mind, since it was such an iconic Matt Jefferies creation, and I was always determined to provide some kind of lineage, some continuity, some evolution that viewers could recognize in the new hardware.

For its unique characteristics he turned to Star Trek lore where, due to an ongoing détente, the Federation and the Klingon Empire shared technology. Sternbach thus blended Starfleet design elements into the Vor’cha-class, crafting a sleeker, curvier hull; choosing a colour-scheme somewhere between the Klingon Bird-of-Prey’s dark green the Enterprise-D’s light grey; and introducing Starfleet-esque nacelles with their characteristic glowing red Bussard Collectors.

Ironically, despite being designed for The Next Generation, the Vor’cha-class became a regular sight on Deep Space Nine, where it was the mainstay of the Klingon fleet and a key player in the calamitous Dominion War.