Just as the Federation upgraded the Constitution design the Klingons upgraded their own cruiser, the D7 class. The end result-the K'T'inga Cruiser-was just as much a match for the improved Constitution class vessels as their respective predecessors had been. Nearly evenly matched in firepower, gunnery, and damage potential, the two designs were the best of their period.

The K'T'inga class, soon after their construction, were fitted with cloaking devices. Newly developed and testbedded on other hulls, the Klingon Empire saw virtue in the ability to launch sneak attacks and then disappear. Despite the advantages of cloaking technology, however, the K'T'inga Cruiser was not a big enough leap in technology to make it superior to the Excelsior.

After the Excelsior entered frequent Federation service, the age of the K'T'inga came to a close. The design was ill equipped to fight this newer Federation threat without superiority in numbers, and even then they faired poorly.

Ships of this class continue to be used in the Klingon navy, though they usually are acting in a destroyer role, escorting the larger Vor'cha Attack Cruisers and the smaller Birds of Prey.

The classic Klingon starship design, the D7 progression to K'T'inga (the latter debuting in Star Trek: The Motion Picture) was as aesthetically pleasing as the jump from the Constitution to the Constitution refit. With more money to build better models, the new vessels look nice and, while being more elaborate, also retain the qualities of the older ships. I made the K'T'inga an upgrade to the D7 which made it on-par with the Constitution refit, retaining the dynamic between those two classes of ships.

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