Hideki class
The Hideki-class was a warp-capable multipurpose starship used by the Cardassian Union's military during the late 24th century.

History 
This class was evidently a newer design as of 2370, due to Kira Nerys only being able to visually identify the design as "definitely Cardassian," but had little more information on the class, when one such vessel arrived at Deep Space 9. 

Later, when Quark suggested that after Lang engaged the cloaking device that he installed on the ship near the central engine core from the bridge, he suggested that they leave the system at warp 8. ()

Later that year, Cardassian colonists living in the Demilitarized Zone utilized modified Cardassian shuttles, equipped with Galor-class phaser banks, to protect their colonial interests. This class of shuttle was identified as being "much smaller" than patrol cruisers. ()

This class of vessel was later specifically identified as a "Hideki-class, Cardassian patrol ship" by the computer, and posed certain risk to one of Starfleet's  runabouts. The defensive systems used photo lock-on prior to opening fire. ()

These vessels were armed with sufficient striking power to operate in fleet actions – they were even referred to as "Cardassian attack ships" when they engaged a number of Federation attack fighters – and were present in numerous Dominion War conflicts, including the Second Battle of Deep Space 9 and in Operation Return. ()

Ships commissioned 
 Unnamed Hideki class starships
 Lang's shuttle
 Evek's patrol ship
 Rusot's shuttle

Appendices

Appearances

Background information 
The Hideki first appeared in the episode "Profit and Loss", where it was described in the script simply as "a small Cardassian ship." The appearance in "Tribunal" was the only reference made to this class name, when it was identified as a "Cardassian patrol ship, Hideki-class". The script notes from "Sacrifice of Angels" also described this class as "Hideki-class Dominion fighters". Additionally, this vessel was identified in the script and dialogue of "Tacking Into the Wind" simply as a "Cardassian shuttle". 

According to the , the name "Hideki" was chosen in honor of Japanese physicist , who first postulated the existence of the subatomic  in 1935.

The Hideki-class was designed by Jim Martin , however, it has also been mistakenly credited to the  designer Rick Sternbach, and is noted for bearing a resemblance to the .  The physical studio model was built by Tony Meininger. 

While in "Sacrifice of Angels" the CGI Hideki and the Jem'Hadar attack ship were scaled to be of approximately the same size, in "Tacking Into the Wind" the Hideki was scaled to be considerably smaller than the attack ship. Visual Effects Supervisor David Stipes has stated that an overall length of 500 feet (150 meters) was generally used onscreen.

Technical Manual 
The following specifications, which describes this vessel as a Cardassian fighter, comes exclusively from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual:

 Production Base: Cardassia Prime Orbital Three Assembly Facility
 Type: Strike fighter
 Accommodation: 30 plus flight crew
 Power Plant: One and possibly two M/A warp systems; one or more impulse systems
 Dimensions: Length, 85.78 meters; beam, 60.14 meters; height, 12.43 meters
 Mass: 120,000 metric tonnes (est.)
 Performance: Warp 9.5 (observed)
 Armament: Four or more spiral-wave disruptors; one medium aft disruptor wave cannon; possibly other weapons

Additionally, according to the Technical Manual, "One interesting note about the Cardassian fighter is that the basic platform seems to have been adapted from that of the , particularly in the forward hull notch, bridge morphology, and aft hull assembly. Starfleet is of the opinion that some classified design documentation may have been compromised."

Apocrypha 
The Hideki-class is a playable ship class in the video game, Star Trek: Armada II.

Models of the Hideki-class have been released as part of the Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection and Star Trek: Attack Wing.

External links 
 
 

de:Hideki-Klasse
ja:ヒデキ級
Cardassian starship classes