CLASS: STALKER

The Hirogen Stalker is used for hunting prey, they are relatively small for the distances they cover, and usually seem to carry a crew of only one or two dozen Hirogen. Although apparently not warships as such, the vessels are well armed and armoured.  These vessels use monotanium in their hull construction, and have a dicyclic warp system. Their layout is fairly conventional, with an engineering hull flanked by two nacelles and a primary hull in front. There is a sublight impeller at the rear of the engineering hull and secondary impellers at the rear of each nacelle. The nacelles themselves have six warp coils each, with a bussard-style matter collector at the forward end. They are protected by an armoured carapace. The primary hull has a combination sensor and weapon array in the bow. Aft of this is a bridge unit located on the dorsal surface, flanked by structural hull reinforcements. The aft of the primary hull mounts weapon turrets, while the short connecting neck between primary and engineering hull has a sensor array and defensive shield emitters on it. Hirogen vessels are equipped with a subnucleonic beam that can perform rapid scans of other vessels.  These have a destructive effect, and can severely disable another ship, disrupting its navigational sensors and propulsion.  The overall design is relatively compact, presumably to make it robust in the face of enemy fire. Occasionally Hirogen vessels are encountered in packs.  This is more common when they are hunting a challenging and resilient prey, however, most travel alone. This would seem to indicate that they require little maintenance while also being extremely robust.  The ships must be able to withstand the demands of prolonged space travel as well as coping with frequent battles. The vessels are very important to the Hirogen as they are intrinsic not only to their way of life but to their very survival.  The Hirogen have based their lives on hunting to such an extent that they constantly roam the Galaxy looking for new species to pursue.  This way of life has continued for so long that the Hirogen no longer have a home planet, and they now live aboard their ships.