Carrier

[Deepcrush]

I dont know about that. Those fighters seemed to give a fair hurt with what they had.

[Captain Seafort]

Really? I'd like to see some evidence of them taking down even a single ship. Dukat seemed pretty relaxed about the whole business.

[Deepcrush]

One screen I think they only took down one Galor. If they had been used to support the main attack the fighters could have focused on taking out Jem'Bugs. I'm not saying they were huge during the battle but I think they still seemed to cause fair damage with what seemed to be a poorly thought out payload.

Of note about Dukat.
His fleet outnumbered his enemy 1200 to 600 with 2000 ships on their way. If he had been worried about 3200 to 600 odds then there would have been something very wrong.

[Mark]

The can be used as the key part of a battle, but not as breakthrough units. Sisko's tactics during Op RETURN were probably the most effective use they could be put to - buzzing the Cardies untill they got p*ssed-off enough to go after them, despite not suffering any significant damage.

If they posed no real and immidieate threat to the Cardie ships, why break formation and go after them? Any expeirinced commander would have realized they were inconsequential and just blew them off.

[Mikey]

The Cardies in general seem to be rather prone to distraction and visceral, rather than rational, decisions in emotional situations.

[Mark]

The Cardies in general seem to be rather prone to distraction and visceral, rather than rational, decisions in emotional situations.

So, we could have just mooned them and gotten the same reaction

[kostmayer]

The can be used as the key part of a battle, but not as breakthrough units. Sisko's tactics during Op RETURN were probably the most effective use they could be put to - buzzing the Cardies untill they got p*ssed-off enough to go after them, despite not suffering any significant damage.

If they posed no real and immidieate threat to the Cardie ships, why break formation and go after them? Any expeirinced commander would have realized they were inconsequential and just blew them off.

Didn't Dukat realise Sisko's strategy and have his ships chase the fighters to lure Sisko into a trap?

[Mikey]

The Cardies in general seem to be rather prone to distraction and visceral, rather than rational, decisions in emotional situations.

So, we could have just mooned them and gotten the same reaction

I don't think the DS9 unis had a "trap door."

[Mark]

:::composoing note to Starfleet Corps of Engineers:::

Remember to include "trap doors" on the next generation of fighters. Useful for infuriating Cardassians, and most likely Klingons as well.

[Mikey]

I meant on the uniforms, not the craft. You can't properly moon someone if you can't expose your ass.

[Captain Seafort]

Didn't Dukat realise Sisko's strategy and have his ships chase the fighters to lure Sisko into a trap?

He did, eventually. Sisko expected that to happen spontaneously a lot earlier, due to Cardie indiscipline - in practice they proved a lot more controllable, probably due to Dukat anticipating the tactic and warning his commanders off beforehand. When it actually did happen, it was part of a coordinated move, with Galors in position to counterattack the overextended Fed forces, which very nearly destroyed Sisko's isolated squadron - only the arrival of the Klingons allowed the Defiant to break through to DS9.

[Deepcrush]

What allowed Sisko to last long enough for the Klingons to show was that Dax saw Dukat's trap and Sisko ordered the GCS to hold the gap open for him.

[Mark]

I meant on the uniforms, not the craft. You can't properly moon someone if you can't expose your ass.

Why wear pants in the first place?

[Reliant121]

What allowed Sisko to last long enough for the Klingons to show was that Dax saw Dukat's trap and Sisko ordered the GCS to hold the gap open for him.

Yeah. As we have the cinematic shot of the Fed fleet engaging impulse, a Cardie warship comes in and opens fire, hitting a Saber and a Miranda i think. Then two Galaxy class ships unleash the type X's on the Galor, disabling her.