The Scorpion is a Reman design in use with the Romulan Empire from circa 2378. Starfleet intelligence had gained some intelligence on the craft, but relatively little was known about them. The first close up look was gained when Captain Picard and Lieutenant Commander Data used a Scorpion to make their escape from the Praetor's flagship Scimitar. The Scorpion is essentially a militarised shuttlepod - small, relatively limited in its capabilities, but easy to produce in quantity. Its flight performance is insufficient to allow it a serious role as a fighter craft, and it most probably serves as a ground attack craft.

The armament is light even by those standards - a single disruptor cannon is carried, and although no hard figures are available this was used by Picard during his escape and appeared to be approximately the equivalent of a Starfleet Type IV phaser as used on many Federation shuttlecraft. Mounting this on the dorsal surface limits its field of fire against ground targets. There was no sign of any torpedo launcher or other weapons, though possibly these can be fitted externally if required.

The lack of shields or armour would make lingering over, or even near, hostile forces an unlikely proposition. The Scorpion is most likely intended to be used in support of Romulan (or Reman) ground troops, loitering above friendly territory and then making fast diving runs at the enemy's forward areas before rapidly escaping. Even so, the casualty rate against the kind of defences mounted by Federation forces would be quite high.