One glance at the B'rel class cruiser is enough to see the intention of its designers. Virtually identical to the Bird of Prey in layout, the B'rel is three times the length and approximately twenty five times the volume of the smaller ship, putting it firmly into the cruiser bracket. The extra size has been used by the designers to provide an extra torpedo tube plus four emergency tubes in place of the Bird of Prey's one of each, replace the Mark 8 disruptors with Mark 10 models and install a secondary armament of six Mark 8 cannon. The thickness of armour across the ship has been more than doubled and the shield system has been considerably upgraded. Other systems have also been uprated in line with the ships cruiser status. Internally, the deck layout has been accommodated within the scaled up design by simply putting three decks in the place of every one. Like the B'Rel there are few windows on this ship; only one in three decks has any windows at all.

The B'rel class vessel entered service in 2327, and has remained in the fleet ever since. An extensive programme of refits has kept them front-line vessels for some forty years, although the Vor'Cha class Attack Cruiser has become the vessel of choice in this area. In the 2360s the B'rel mostly patrolled friendly areas, and was a common sight to Federation Starships during this time. With the Klingons war with the Cardassians and the brief conflict with the Federation the type was brought into conflict with Federation Starships for the first time, where it performed reasonably well. Recently it has also seen a great deal of action against the Dominion where it has not performed so well, its age and second rank status counting against it. Nevertheless, the sheer numbers deployed mean that this design should continue to see service in some form until the turn of the century.

• D748 IKS Koraga
• D749 IKS Pagh