“Star Trek” is the science fiction franchise perhaps best known for thoughtful stories that explore complex issues and examine society’s problems in the present through a lens of the future. Still, the saga has its action as well, and its intrepid explorers often find themselves coming into conflict with interstellar rivals like the warlike Klingons, the scheming Romulans, or the enigmatic Tamarians

With any conflict, of course, comes the question of strength, and in “Star Trek” that can mean the power of a starship as much as any collective strength of will. In space combat, it’s the photon torpedoes, phasers, and shields that often wind up being the deciding factor in a battle. Over the years, we’ve seen any number of ships in “Star Trek” that could stop a skirmish with one torpedo blast or disable opponents with a gravimetric charge. But with so many starships in the history of “Trek,” which ones are the strongest we’ve ever seen?

It’s a question that’s not so easy to answer, and we’ve got a few ground rules: To qualify, a vessel must be more than a weapon itself, and must include a standard crew and ship complement. That means the likes of the Xindi spheres, V’Ger, and Nomad won’t be considered, while ships will be judged on their supremacy relative to their time period. Still, if you think you know which vessels in the franchise are the top dogs, our list of the 10 strongest ships in “Star Trek” just might surprise you.

By the time “Star Trek: Voyager” premiered in 1995, predecessors “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” had long since established that Starfleet technology in the 24th century far outstripped its classic counterparts in the 1960s series. The USS Enterprise-D was the top-of-the-line starship, capable of greater speeds and with more powerful weapons, while runabout vessels were more powerful than traditional shuttlecraft. Then came the USS Voyager, which outclassed them all.

In the episode “Relativity,” a newly-appointed Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) lists some of its key stats: 700,000 metric tons,15 decks, computer systems augmented with bio-neural circuitry, and a top cruising speed of warp 9.975. Bleeding-edge technology at the time, the bio-neural circuitry helps to make the ship’s computer the fastest and most efficient in the fleet. By the end of “Voyager,” the ship is also enhanced with technology discovered in the remote regions of the Delta Quadrant, providing upgraded weapons and computer tech that no Federation ship could even dream of, with alien technology integrated into its systems. 

In the series finale, Voyager receives further upgrades courtesy of an alternate future version of now-Admiral Janeway, who travels into the past to aid the ship’s return home. These include powerful ablative armor and some of the strongest weapons imaginable — weapons specifically designed to defeat the Borg. That alone makes Voyager one of the most powerful starships in the fleet, even if its upgrades are for just one mission.

For decades the USS Enterprise was the crown jewel and flagship of the Federation, and the most powerful vessel in Starfleet’s impressive arsenal. But when it comes to alien races, there was never a flagship vessel that was more powerful or advanced than the rest in their respective fleets. That all changed, however, with the introduction of the Negh’Var, the new Klingon flagship, which made its debut in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series finale “All Good Things…” — though at the time, few realized it.

The Negh’Var’s first true appearance comes in the “Deep Space Nine” Season 4 opener “The Way of The Warrior,” an episode most notable for reintroducing “Next Generation” star Michael Dorn as a “DS9” regular, reprising his role as the Klingon Commander Worf. But the first appearance of the Negh’Var isn’t to be overlooked: It’s a terrifying monstrosity, seemingly indestructible, and with its cloaking device, arguably stronger than anything that Starfleet can offer. It leads a massive assault on Deep Space Nine, and as dozens of other Klingon ships — from Birds of Prey to Vor’Cha class attack cruisers — are blown out of the stars, the Negh’Var looms ominously, shrugging off phaser blasts and photon torpedoes like they were water guns.

Admittedly, the version of the Negh’Var in the “TNG” finale is easily destroyed by the upgraded Enterprise-D. But relative to its 24th-century counterparts, the Klingon flagship is among the strongest ships around. And as the most powerful Klingon vessel of its day, it rightly earns its place on this list. 

Size doesn’t always correlate to strength or power, with examples like the USS Defiant proving that just because a ship is small doesn’t mean it doesn’t pack a mighty punch. But on the other side of the coin is the Scimitar, a ship that brings new meaning to the term “size matters.” Because in the case of this massive Reman menace, we’re talking about a ship whose size is a big reason it stands as one of the strongest ships in “Star Trek.”

Appearing in “Star Trek: Nemesis” — the “Star Trek” film you forgot starred Tom Hardy — the Scimitar is the personal warship of Shinzon, the movie’s villain. Shinzon (Hardy) is revealed to be a diabolical Romulan clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who leads a rebellion of Reman foot soldiers in an uprising against the Romulan government. His Scimitar, more than twice the size of the Enterprise-E, is the ultimate symbol of his power. But the Scimitar isn’t just a bigger, meaner Romulan Bird of Prey; it’s a stunning warship with weapons so powerful that they can obliterate all life on an entire planet. 

The Scimitar also boasts one of the most advanced cloaking devices we’ve seen in “Trek” canon: It’s virtually undetectable, emitting absolutely zero emissions or energy signatures of any kind that Starfleet ships often use to track cloaked vessels. It can even operate at high warp under cloak, something most cloaking devices can’t do without compromising their effectiveness. And with a top speed exceeding that of the fastest Starfleet ships, it could give an entire fleet a run for its money. 

Since launching in 2009, the J.J. Abrams-conceived “Star Trek” reboot films have proven divisive among Trekkies for a variety of reasons. Even putting aside their controversial rewriting of “Trek” history, one chief complaint is the emphasis on action and spectacle over thoughtful science fiction, with an abundance of overpowered starships, weapons, and technology in this altered timeline. Perhaps the best example of that is the USS Vengeance, a Federation battleship seen in “Star Trek Into Darkness” and later in the “Star Trek Fleet Command” mobile game.

In the film, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the Enterprise uncover a vast conspiracy within Starfleet itself, as they learn about a clandestine intelligence agency known as Section 31. Led by Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller), Section 31 recruits 20th-century super-genius Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch), revived from cryo-stasis, to develop new and more powerful weapons, resulting in the construction of the Vengeance, the ultimate Starfleet warship. 

Dwarfing the Enterprise by an order of magnitude, the Vengeance is designed solely as a combat vessel, created in preparation for a looming war with the Klingons. Weapons platforms aboard the ship can tear through the shields of ordinary starships, while autonomous drones extend their weapons’ reach or are used as targeted missiles themselves. All told, the Vengeance might be the most powerful Federation starship of its era. After all, it exists in a timeline where science and technology are more advanced than the Prime Timeline, thanks to the meddling of time travel and the recruitment of Khan.

Right up there with the Scimitar is the USS Enterprise-E — the lone starship to best Shinzon’s warship. It does so with a desperate, risky, kamikaze-like maneuver in which Captain Picard orders the ship rammed head-on into the Scimitar’s nose. But outside of that, the Enterprise-E has proven itself the strongest ship the Federation has to offer in the 24th century, with more advanced weapons than its predecessor, the Enterprise-D.

Chief among those improvements is the upgrade to quantum torpedoes. The latter were actually introduced first in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” as part of the arsenal of the USS Defiant, which was specifically designed to fight and defeat the Borg. Aboard the Enterprise-E, though, quantum torpedoes lead an arsenal with such awesome power that they all but make photon torpedoes obsolete. The ship’s 16 phaser arrays outnumber those of the Enterprise-D, while it also carries a number of auxiliary craft that go beyond mere shuttles, like the ground-based Argo and the warp-capable captain’s yacht, the Cousteau. 

All told, the Enterprise-E is the strongest ship we know of to bear that name. And don’t take our word for it. In the finale of “Star Trek: Picard,” when the former “TNG” crew resurrects the Enterprise-D, Commander Worf — the ship’s tactical officer — says he prefers the weapons of its successor, the Enterprise-E. Case closed. Qapla.

“Star Trek: Discovery” may have never seen a sixth season, but it did give us the Sarcophagus, the Klingon ship seen in the series’ second episode, “Battle at the Binary Stars.” The colossal vessel carries enough armaments to decimate an entire fleet and more. What makes it unique is that the outside hull of the ship is covered in an interlocking web of pods, each containing the remains of a dead Klingon warrior. While that’s more symbolic than functional, the ship itself possesses shields that can withstand a barrage of firepower without flinching.

On the weapons front, the Sarcophogus wields torpedoes and energy weapons, not to mention a wide array of tractor beams. The ship is seen blasting starships like punching bags, and it’s said that its weaponry can effectively wipe out all life on a planet, while its captain, Kol (Kenneth Mitchell), claims it can destroy a world entirely.

But more notable than its disruptors and torpedoes — all common technology — is that it’s also one of the earliest Klingon ships to boast a cloaking device. Admittedly, the technology is fairly primitive — and not quite as effective — as later versions of the technology. Still, the cloak on display is a game-changer for the Klingons, especially in an era when few races have even seen such technology, let alone know how to combat it.

For years, the Borg were seen as the ultimate alien threat in “Star Trek,” and when they turned up on “Star Trek: Voyager,” they quickly became Janeway’s most persistent nemesis. But then came Species 8472, a race of aliens from another realm whose ships were somehow capable of taking down the vaunted Borg cubes — reason enough to put Species 8472’s bioships on this list.

Originating in a region known as fluidic space, the bioships are the main mode of transport for Species 8472. What makes them so unique is their unusual structure: Rather than being made of any kind of metal or otherwise ordinary material, the bioships are constructed with organic material, making them nearly living beings themselves. Though not totally impervious, the ships’ unique biological nature give them a resistance to most conventional weaponry, and in particular, a near total immunity to the devastating effects of Borg technology, allowing them to fight off nanoprobes like a bad rash.

Offensively, the bioships can emit powerful energy discharges capable of devastating starships like Voyager, and yes, Borg cubes. And when multiple bioships work together, they create one of the most powerful weapons in the history of Star Trek, capable of obliterating an entire planet in one shot.

This might be controversial, considering just how split the fandom has been over “Star Trek: Discovery.” When it first debuted, many fans took umbrage with the show’s darker tone and even the hero ship itself, the USS Discovery. But like it or not, the Discovery is among the strongest ships in “Trek,” for its day or any other. A big part of that is one of the primary reasons the show’s critics didn’t like it — its revolutionary spore drive.

Rather than just possessing a warp engine that allows it to travel to distant planets in the time it takes to grab a cup of coffee, the spore drive allows the Discovery to travel nearly instantaneously to any point in the galaxy. Its technology is able to tap into the mycelial network, a hidden system of energies that creates a vast, unseen web which connects nearly every point in space. It has its flaws, like its need for tardigrade DNA to make it run, but the ability to transport the entire ship anywhere in the galaxy in the blink of an eye easily bumps it past some of the most powerful starships on this list.

Beyond its experimental engine, however, is the Discovery’s 32nd-century upgrades. Once it travels a thousand years into the future in the show’s third season, radically altering the show’s premise, Starfleet provides the Discovery with advanced technology that includes detached nacelles, programmable matter, and a new interface that smooths out the spore drive’s rough edges, making a flawed starship one of the strongest we’ve ever seen.

When one thinks of strength, one usually thinks of weapons that can destroy starships, starbases, or even planets. But the “Star Trek: Voyager” two-part installment “Year of Hell” introduced what one might argue is the single strongest starship we’ve ever seen, with a valid claim to the No. 1 spot. And it earns its place thanks to a weapon that isn’t designed to destroy, but to utterly erase its targets from existence.

Developed and built by a Krenim scientist named Annorax (played by “That ’70s Show” star Kurtwood Smith), the ship uses a weapon that wipes its targets out of history itself, creating an entirely new timeline as a result. Annorax and his crew use the ship in an attempt to alter history to their whim and bring their people into power. But that’s not all. The ship’s temporal core and unique shielding essentially mean that the ship exists outside of time — its crew is all but immortal, and the ship is completely invulnerable to conventional weapons. 

It’s only through some clever tricks and with the help of a defector that Captain Janeway and Voyager are able to defeat Annorax and the Krenim timeship. Had they failed, it very well could have led to the annihilation of all reality as Annorax’s quest for a perfect timeline wiped out entire planets, races, and interstellar civilizations.

Technically speaking, other ships are arguably stronger than a Borg cube. But when it comes to raw power and an ability to overcome its rivals, there’s really no match for the big box baddie. Following its first appearance in “Q Who,” the Borg showed its full power in the iconic “Star Trek: The Next Generation” Season 3 finale “The Best of Both Worlds,” easily among the greatest season-ending cliffhangers in TV history. The Borg cube became an instant fan favorite not just because of its strength, but because of its strange design.

Unlike anything sci-fi fans had ever seen, the cube-shaped starship shrugs off conventional attacks, with photon torpedoes and phasers barely making a scratch against its armor. And even when some damage is done, the ship shows a remarkable ability to regenerate and be back at full strength within moments. Even the strongest Federation shields are no match for its weapons, and it takes a desperate, rapid build-up of technology and weaponry before Starfleet has anything it can call a legitimate counter to the cube’s power.

A single Borg cube slices up the Enterprise like bread, and in “Both Worlds” it takes out an entire fleet of Starfleet vessels — and does so again in “Star Trek: First Contact.” Of course, much of the cube’s power is derived from the very nature of the Borg — their collective will and direct connection to the ship itself. Once severed, the ship becomes much more vulnerable, with a single photon torpedo sometimes being enough to take it down. Nevertheless, the Borg show an ability to continually adapt, and every battle makes their cubes even stronger.