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 that year , Cardassian colonist s 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 runabout s . The defensive system s 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 ship s " when they engaged a number of Federation attack fighter s – and were present in numerous Dominion War conflicts , including the first Battle of Deep Space 9 and in Operation Return . ( ) Appendices . 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 " " Hideki " - class , Cardassian patrol ship " . 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 " " : 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 , " " . Models of the " Hideki " - class have been released as part of the " " and " " .