Even using their standard armament of phasers and photon torpedoes these imposing vessels are amongst the more powerful known in the Alpha Quadrant. The Federation's first combat experience against Son'a Battleships came in 2374, when two of them attacked the USS Enterprise-E in an attempt to prevent that ship from informing the Federation of the plot against the Ba'ku. The battle was fought within the Briar Patch, a region filled with anomalies which can degrade the systems of an unmodified Starship. The Enterprise was not fitted for the Patch, and as a result was at a huge disadvantage; the effectiveness of the ships targeting systems was reduced substantially, and it was limited to 1/3 Impulse speed within the patch. When the Enterprise exceeded this speed the impulse manifolds were damaged, limiting the ships ability to manoeuvre.

In addition to their conventional weapons, the battleships also carry a complement of Isolitic subspace charges. These devices, banned under the Second Khitomer Accords, give the vessels a huge advantage over conventionally armed starships, but are highly unpredictable. An Isolitic charge was used against the Enterprise, creating a subspace tear which threatened to destroy the ship. Fortunately the Enterprise crew were able to seal the tear using a warp core detonation.

The Enterprise destroyed one of the battleships by deploying a Metreon cloud which was detonated by a Son'a photon torpedo. Wreckage from the first ship impacted on the second, badly damaging it. The Enterprise was subsequently successful in transmitting its message and returning to the Ba'ku planet