Bajoran raiders were lightly armed sub-impulse powered starships used by the Bajorans. The Bajoran engineers who designed the craft built them without comfort in mind, offering cramped quarters and requiring occupants to bend their knees to fit in the seats. Although capable of achieving a high-altitude orbit, these vessels were most effective in atmospheric altitudes. These vessels were armed with dual phaser emitters and were equipped with fire extinguishers under the seats.
The Bajoran Resistance readily used these vessels during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. Although these ships were substantially inferior to Cardassian vessels, the Bajorans still managed to annoy the Cardassians enough to achieve many missions. The Bajorans managed to store a few sub-impulse raiders underground at the Lunar V base before the Cardassians hit the camp.
In 2370, while attempting to prove the Cardassians were behind the coup of the Bajoran Provisional Government, Kira Nerys opted to take a raider from the Bajor's Lunar V base to Bajor in order to avoid capture by Alliance for Global Unity influenced Bajoran Militia. With the assistance of Jadzia Dax, whose previous host Tobin Dax had experience with phase coil inverters and sub-impulse thrusters, she was able to locate a stored raider, which she hoped to use to fly to Bajor.
Despite its antiquated condition, much less its malfunctioning navigational sensors and inoperative phaser locks, the ship was able to achieve a high-altitude orbit over Bajor's moon before being intercepted and fired upon by two Bajoran impulse ships. Attempting to even the odds, Kira flew the raider into the atmosphere of Bajor where it engaged the two interceptors at thruster speeds.
The raider was able to shoot down one of the interceptors before weapons fire from the second ship hit a plasma conduit. The raider lost all thrusters and was forced to jettison its plasma tank moments before it crashed landed in the forests surrounding outside the capital city. (DS9: "The Siege")
Background
Jim Martin sketch of interior
The following specifications, which describes this vessel as a Bajoran impulse ship, comes exclusively from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual :
- Production Base: Bajoran Militia Secured Factory #5.
- Type: Strike Fighter.
- Accommodation: Two flight crew.
- Power Plant: One microfusion impulse system (fighter); Coanda-cycle chemical/air-ram system (raider).
- Dimensions: Length, 33.10 meters; beam, 33.17 meters; height, 11.23 meters.
- Mass: 108.96 metric tonnes.
- Performance: Maximum delta-v, 15,600 meters per second.
- Armament: Six or more phased polaron beam weapons; possibly other weapons.