Duranium Duranium is an extremely strong metal lic substance that was used in alloy s for hull construction of the starship s and space station s of numerous cultures , including Andorian s , Cardassian s , Ferengi , Human s , Klingon s , and Trabe . Duranium interests were traded on the open market of the Ferengi Futures Exchange . Over the last three trading cycles prior to mid - 2373 , there had been an increase of 7 . 75 , a decrease of 2 . 125 , and another increase of 11 . 375 , making an overall gain of seventeen points . That year , DaiMon Igel petitioned to Grand Nagus Zek as to whether he should sell his duranium interests on the Exchange . ( ) During the Dominion War , the Gallamite s were supplying duranium to the Federation for the war effort . ( ) Applications . The outer hull of starships were lined with duranium . ( ) Federation Class F shuttlecraft were constructed with a duranium metal shell . ( ) Portions of the interior of starships were composed of solid duranium . It was discovered , in 2366 , that Krieger wave s were capable of putting a hole in solid duranium , something that was rather difficult to accomplish , when one was discovered in the cargo bay of the . ( ) Miles O ' Brien used an object of pure duranium in order to test the transporter ' s operation in the " Enterprise " - D ' s transporter room three , as he had discovered something odd while synchronizing the Phase transition coil s . ( ) The skulls of Soong - type android s were partly composed of duranium . ( ) Portions of the secondary hull on a Klingon attack cruiser were partially constructed from duranium alloy . While searching the debris of the for a mission recorder , Dax noted that the magnetic field from the duranium might be masking it . ( ) Portions of Kazon fighter s , like Federation Type 8 shuttlecraft , were composed of duranium and magnesite . ( ) Duranium alloy was not normally used in the construction of the pylon supports of Class 2 shuttle s , making the shuttle susceptible to subspace torque when trying to achieve warp 10 . Harry Kim suggested using a duranium alloy to reinforce the nacelle , but B ' Elanna Torres had already considered that and determined that it was " too brittle . " ( ) The Borg drone designated as One identified the hull of the as being constructed of duranium . ( ) " Voyager " stored spare duranium sheeting in its cargo bay one . Neelix noted that " " with a few modifications , it could be converted into gravity plating . " " ( ) Duranium composites . The Cardassian s used two - meter thick duranium composite to shield all the access conduit s aboard Terok Nor . Prior to the station ' s encounter with the Hunter s , Miles O ' Brien had " never seen a scanning device that could penetrate it . " ( ) Deep Space 9 ' s crew later took advantage of knowing that this composite was impervious to the station ' s own security net scans and hid in the conduits in 2370 , when the station was under siege . ( ) The emergency hatch es aboard Federation runabout s were made of duranium composite . When Major Kira Nerys suggested to burn through the hatch , Commander Benjamin Sisko told her to " forget it " and that " it would take [ her ] an hour to get through . " ( ) Duranium shadows . Duranium shadow s could be used to create the illusion , to sensor scans , of large weapon stockpiles . In 2369 , Miles O ' Brien created such an illusion behind a thoron field to fool Gul Jasad into thinking that Deep Space 9 was far more heavily armed than originally believed . O ' Brien ' s duranium shadow gave the Cardassians the impression that the station was armed with an estimated five thousand photon torpedo es and integrated phaser bank s on all levels . ( ) Prior to the first Battle of Deep Space 9 , Benjamin Sisko warned Gowron and that the station was armed with five thousand photon torpedoes , and suggested that if they did not believe him that they were free to scan the station . After the scan , Martok was still skeptical and stated to Gowron that it was a trick , and that what they were reading was likely an illusion created by thoron fields and duranium shadows . ( ) Background information . According to the " " , duranium is a naturally - occurring ore in planetary crust s such as the crust of Bajor . This would suggest that duranium itself is not an alloy , but rather that there is a family of elements where duranium is the prime constituent . This is further supported by the use of the term " duranium - 235 , " which implies that duranium is in fact an element , one that has an isotope with an atomic weight of 235 . In the fictional " Star Wars " universe , is an extremely light and durable material that is somewhat - resistant and is much stronger than or . This material is also referenced as a construction material in the video game and in " " as a sixth resource material refined from dolamide ore . It is used to construct most structures .