Star Trek Vs. Star Wars: Ranking The 5 Best Ships From Both Universes

Star Trek and Star Wars are considered tentpole franchises within the sci-fi genre, and they’ve carried the flag for over 50 years at this point. Along the way, audiences have been treated to the best that conceptual designers and their imaginations have to offer, from planets to weaponry and ships.

Speaking of ships, it’s time to break down the five best from both Star Trek, and Star Wars. These ships aren’t just iconic in terms of visual spectacle – they’re also formidable in their own unique ways. Whether it’s laser or phaser, hyperdrive, or warp drive, every ship on the list is a winner.

10 Star Wars: Star Destroyer

The Star Destroyer was the symbol of the Galactic Empire’s might following the end of the Clone Wars. It was fast, and extremely powerful thanks to its mammoth weaponry. Star Destroyers were typically deployed in multiples and housed multiple TIE fighter squadrons which could easily be deployed to overwhelm enemy forces.

The most iconic model was the Imperial II-class Destroyer. It was capable of orbital bombardment on a planet, as well as direct assaults in space. Despite its many design flaws (over 174,000), few got the chance to exploit them before they face obliteration.

9 Star Trek: U.S.S. Voyager

Voyager served as the flagship vessel for the entire spinoff series Star Trek: Voyager, and featured a design much different from most Federation vessels seen at the time. This Intrepid-class ship was far smaller than Galaxy-class ships like the Enterprise, capable of housing a little more than 1/10th the crew compliment.

Nevertheless, it was designed primarily for long-range exploration missions. It was also one of the few Federation ships with landing gear, which allowed it to set down on the surface of a planet. It was also quite fast thanks to its class 9 warp drive, allowing it to remain at a dizzying warp 9.975 for up to 12 hours without having to reduce speed.

8 Star Wars: TIE Fighter

The Galactic Empire relied on the TIE fighter as a means to strike terror into opposing star systems, while vastly reducing build costs in an effort to overwhelm enemies with sheer numbers. Its lack of deflector shields, hyperdrive, and life support mechanisms made it cheap to produce, with a focus on speed and weaponry.

TIEs were incredibly maneuverable, and their small shape made them difficult for unskilled pilots to hit. Their L-S1 laser cannons were not incredibly powerful, but their rate of fire combined with sheer numbers meant they could easily destroy their targets in very little time. TIE pilots were given a number designation rather than a name to remind them that they were expendable in service to the Empire.

7 Star Trek: Klingon Bird Of Prey

This menacing Klingon vessel was meant to resemble a football player due to the large formations on its back, giving it a more intimidating appearance. It consisted of several classes including the K’vort, B’rel, and D12 class, one of the most recognizable. It also served many functions including scouting, patrol, and raider operations.

The ship’s weaponry consisted of twin disruptor cannons on its wingtips, and two photon torpedo launchers located on its maw and aft sections. It was not the strongest ship in the Klingon fleet by far, but the Bird of Prey was quite deadly when paired with a group of several, and could easily overwhelm a Starfleet vessel.

6 Star Wars: The Death Star

This “weapon of ultimate power” was originally the brainchild of Sienar Fleet Systems, dubbed the Expeditionary Battle Planetoid, which was meant for large-scale conflicts. Company CEO Raith Sienar put the project on the backburner, only for the plans to be stolen by Darth Sidious and given to Separatist forces during the Clone Wars.

In turn, they expanded the concept into the Death Star, a weapon of mass destruction that could destroy an entire planet with its uber-powerful cannon. It quickly became the Rebellion’s greatest threat before it was destroyed by Luke Skywalker at the Battle of Yavin. A second Death Star was developed shortly after, and used by Sidious as a trap to lure in the Rebellion, which nearly succeeded.

5 Star Trek: Romulan Warbird

The Romulans relied on many ships to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies, but the D’deridex class Warbird was undoubtedly the most infamous. This behemoth was as much about style as it was function, especially during a period of increased tensions between the Empire and the Federation in the year 2364.

The Warbird was a full-on battle cruiser that incorporated cutting edge cloaking technology with powerful weaponry, including multiple disruptors and torpedo launchers. In contrast to Federation vessels which used a matter/anti-matter warp core, Warbirds relied on a forced quantum singularity as their power source.

4 Star Wars: X-Wing

The main staple of the Rebellion’s fleet during the uprising against the Galactic Empire was the X-Wing, developed by Incom-FreiTek. The most famous is the T-70 model which saw combat against the first and second Death Stars and remained in service for at least 3 decades after the Empire’s fall.

The craft’s signature feature was its trademarked S-foils which resembled an X when locked into attack position. Each one housed a laser cannon that could be fired successively for staggered fire, or universally for a heavier attack. While not as maneuverable as a TIE fighter, it was nonetheless fast and agile, with a hyperdrive and life support system included by default.

3 Star Trek: Borg Cube

To most galactic cultures, the Borg Cube was a psychologically terrifying image that usually meant certain doom. It was the most famous of the Borg’s geometric-shaped vessels and was typically deployed both on reconnaissance and assimilation missions. The vessel itself was immensely strong and able to withstand the barrage of an entire fleet without taking any damage.

The key to the Cube’s immense strength lies in its adaptation technology, allowing it to absorb weapons fire. Later advancements in weaponry (most notably quantum torpedoes) made the Cube more susceptible to damage, but it was still capable of operating with most of its mass inoperable.

2 Star Wars: Millennium Falcon

Dubbed “the fastest hunk o’ junk in the galaxy” by Lando Calrissian, the Millennium Falcon is the most easily identifiable ship in the entire Star Wars universe. Originally a stock YT-1300 light freighter, the Falcon was heavily modified by Han Solo after winning it from Calrissian in a game of sabacc.

While the Falcon could hold its own in a fight, it was more famous for its incredible speed which allowed it to evade Imperial vessels. This was accomplished by modding its Girodyne sublight engines with a SLAM overdrive for normal space while swapping its base hyperdrive unit for a modified Isu-Sim SSP05. While notoriously unreliable, the Falcon got Solo out of plenty of jams.

1 Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise

The U.S.S. Enterprise is the ship that launched an entire franchise. It was designed primarily as a ship of peaceful exploration to seek out new worlds and new forms of life, all for the sake of galactic unity. As such, it served as a beacon of optimism and hope for the human race as we progressed into the 23rd century, and beyond.

Originally commanded by James T. Kirk, the Enterprise would see several other models developed over the coming decades that were helmed by John Harriman, Rachel Garrett, and Jean-Luc Picard, respectively. It would serve as the flagship of the entire Federation in the years to come.

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