Trekipedia

Z’gavva class

The Z’gavva class, known to Starfleet as the D-32, was introduced in 2278 and was one of several ships developed as a result of a technology exchange between the Klingons and the Romulans in the late 23rd century; it was an upscaled version of the B’rel class bird-of-prey. The most interesting aspect of the shared design was the movable wings, which were positioned straight out for normal cruise, down for attack, and straight up for landing and atmospheric operations. In attack mode, the ship presented a smaller target, and the disruptors mounted at the wingtips had a better field of fire. In atmospheric flight mode, the wings took advantage of the aerodynamic design of the ship, and, in the cruise mode, the wings created a more structurally sound design that could withstand the forces of high warp speeds. The first cruiser model lacked the maneuverability that the Klingons desired, and was modified immediately. The ship mounted a very powerful impulse drive system that delivered 40% of the total maneuver power and gave the ship its ability to perform atmospheric operations. The weaponry was the standard mix of disruptors and photon torpedoes; the disruptors covered all fields of fire, and the torpedoes were mounted both fore and aft. The class was produced at H’renn and Mustaka, and the class name was from the Klingon Z’gavva, which translated to “stronger bird.”^[1]