Suurok class The " Suurok " - class was a type of Vulcan starship designated by the High Command as a science vessel and combat cruiser during the mid - 22nd century . Technical data . Design . The design of the " Suurok " - class possessed a long , cylindrical primary hull and a unique circular , ring - shaped warp drive . Primary systems . During the 2150s , this design was among the fastest and most powerful starships operating in the Vulcan fleet . The " Suurok " possessed a top speed of Warp 6 . 5 in the science vessel variant . The combat vessel variant could go to Warp 7 . ( ) The technology behind this advancement was considered " classified " as of 2151 from Earth Starfleet . ( ) The " Suurok " was armed with standard particle beam weapon s . In combat , these vessels were capable of disabling , if not destroying , a force of three Mazarite ship s in a confrontation . ( ) The " Suurok " - class also possessed tractor beam technology which was considered " classified " from Earth Starfleet . The tractor beam emitter was located on the lower section of the primary hull , in front of the warp drive . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Name . It is commonly believed that the name of this class is " " Surak " " class . This name was used , for instance , by John Eaves . It also appeared in an article on the design of the ship written by Doug Drexler in , which was reprinted in " " issue 34 , and in a different article focusing on the starship written in . Conversely , Scott Bakula – in the role of Captain Jonathan Archer – clearly pronounced the name as " " Suurok " " class in , which also corresponded with the spelling that appeared in the episode ' s closed - captioning . This spelling was later confirmed as the spelling in the final draft of the script , whose pronunciation guide phonetically notated the name as , " sir - OCK " . The script ' s writer , Mike Sussman , noted the former spelling may have appeared in an early draft of the script . The class wasn ' t named at all in the writers ' second draft of the teleplay . Original design . In the writers ' second draft script of " Breaking the Ice " , this type of ship was characterized as " the almost eerie , swooping , tripod form of a Vulcan ship . " In the final draft of the script , it was described as " a tripod - shaped Vulcan ship . " Because regular ship designer John Eaves was busy working on , the job of designing the " Suurok " - class fell to Doug Drexler . The vessel was the first Vulcan starship design to appear on the series of " Enterprise " , and the first significant Vulcan starship design to appear in the " Star Trek " series . Given that there were few references that existed even though the Vulcans are one of the primary species that define " Star Trek " , Drexler felt daunted by the request to design a craft for the species . In designing the " Suurok " - class , he believed that – since it would likely make many appearances on ENT – the ship should be as memorable as possible . ( ) The goal of Doug Drexler ' s design for the Vulcan ship was simplicity , so that it would pass the " squint test , " making the vessel recognizable even if the ship was tiny on the screen . Consequently , he borrowed influence from what he thought were the most memorable ship designs in " Star Trek " , those made by Matt Jefferies . One that caught his eye was the , as it was rather different from all other designs in " Star Trek " to that date . ( ) He also remembered that the Vulcan ship from ( the " " ) had a ring shape . So , he based his idea on this . " " Ah , ' I thought , as I mulled over the Vulcan ship design question for " Enterprise " . ' This is the perfect place to fit the hoop ship , " " he remembered . ( ) Doug Drexler modified the basic ringed shape to make the craft look more Vulcan . He did so by giving the vessel curves and peaks which were inspired by the Vulcan temple and clothing from and the " " from . ( ) Drexler further adapted the reddish colors and the trio of engine pods of the " T ' Plana - Hath " , in an attempt to create as much of a design lineage as possible , using what little reference there actually was . ( ) The first design for the " Suurok " - class which Doug Drexler demonstrated , as a concept model , to Production Designer Herman Zimmerman and Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga appeared much as the ship ended up looking . However , Matt Jefferies ' engine support spar had become a lot larger and was clearly inhabited . ( ) Despite loving the hoop design , Drexler was expected to present some alternatives to Zimmerman , Berman , and Braga . He therefore devised two other designs to give them , one of which resembled the " T ' Plana - Hath " much more than the final version . ( ) The other potential candidate had conical engine pods and a spherical primary hull , similar to the , another design that was based on an early Jefferies design ( the ) . ( ) " " Needless to say , I was delighted that Rick and Brannon went for the exotic hoop and arrow , " " enthused Drexler . ( ) Refining the shape of the hoop ship constituted the next step in the design process . Doug Drexler firstly came up with some variations which showed it with slightly different body shapes and engine pods . A version he experimented with included engines matching those of the " T ' Plana - Hath " as well as another of the early concepts for the " Suurok " - class . One of the final decisions was to flip the craft upside down . " " I just realized that it looked better defying gravity , " " Drexler related , " " rather than hanging from the hoop and Herman , Rick , and Brannon heartily agreed . " " Afterwards , the engine pods were eliminated as was any physical connection between the main body of the vessel and the surrounding ring section , disconnecting the two separate elements . " " We liked the defiance of conventional structural support , " " Drexler stated . " " It makes the Vulcans look like they control powers beyond Human ken . " " In this way , Drexler believes the " Suurok " - class was made to be like the , with the structure of both seemingly defying Human understanding . ( ) Finally , the design for the " Suurok " - class was approved . Doug Drexler himself was also happy with it . " " I feel that the " Surak " - class ship will enjoy a longevity if only for that certain Jefferies ' je ne sais quoi , " " he remarked . ( ) John Eaves regarded the ship as highly influential and a " beautiful design . " Following its approval , the design was moved to Eden FX , who added it into " Breaking the Ice " . ( ) Although a " Suurok " - class ship appears in , the final draft script of that installment gave no indication of which configuration of Vulcan starship was to be used in the episode , merely that it was to be a " Vulcan ship . " A reference to the craft ' s abilities that was scripted but not included in the installment ' s final edit had " Enterprise " armory officer Malcolm Reed comment to the vessel ' s captain , " " Your ship can fabricate as many phase - pistol s as you want . " " Revised design . Following the initial appearance of the " Suurok " - class in " Breaking the Ice " , the " Suurok " was redesigned for its later appearances in " Fallen Hero " and " United " . According to Robert Bonchune , " the design fell out of favor for a while , " but was eventually revised by model builder Pierre Drolet , to include " better detail and texturing as well as modified dimensions . " Bonchune further added that the reason for this was because " " the original model was just not up to snuff for what we needed . So it was superseded . They are theoretically the same ship , not two different classes or types . " " Doug Drexler on the issue : " " It was my first pass concept model . Like all the concept models , it ' s low to medium resolution . Usually I only take 2 days to build something like that , because Herman [ Zimmerman ] needs it pronto for approval . A high rez version was built later by Pierre [ Drolet ] so that they could get close to it . " " This version was seen as the " Sh ' Raan " combat cruiser . Later , Drexler added , " " I like to think that they are two different classes . " " Among the modifications made to the design included a longer primary hull with a flat underside , and a redesigned aft vertical nacelle strut , which changed from a blue glow to a red glow . Apocrypha . T ' Uerell ' s ship in the " " videogame was a " Suurok " - class vessel . Throughout the game , the vessel adopts several green and gray accents to depict its gradual assimilation . It is the game ' s final boss .