One of the first military vessels constructed in numbers by the Circasians, the Xandar Lancer Frigate was an interesting concept that came to fruition. Designed to include a large under slung gunnery implement, the Xandar is an odd looking ship, but one who gains additional firepower at the cost of integrated hull design. The ship is actually made up of three definite sections; the first, the actual gun or “lance” is a massive construct that allowed for the pairing of two light particle cannons (then bleeding edge technology) into a single housing. This setup had some limitations but was seen to be far superior in the short run to attempting to integrate the light particle cannons in any other fashion. The second and largest section is the engineering and control section towards the rear which houses the main engines, thrusters, and reactors for the frigate. Command facilities (four of them, each acting as distributed nerve centers) are mounted towards the front of this section. The last section, the hangar and auxiliary weapons segment, is connected to the engineering section through a series of walkways and connecting struts. Here the ship’s two shuttles and rocket weaponry are stored, with retro thrusters mounted underneath.

During the ongoing war against terrorism, the Xandars were seen as affordable, successful units for hunting down raider fighters and armed freighters. The state of the art technologies built into the Xandar Lancer Frigates was more than a match for the raider forces. Where the Xandar’s sibling the Yollana Escort Frigate was unable to put up enough of a fight to be effective, the Xandar was capable of fighting running battles and maintain combat effectiveness.

Before the Chouka War began the Xandar Lancer Frigates began to be decommissioned slowly, replaced by newer ships—primarily the Moshesta Frigate. The Lancer Design Project, however, lived on, though the proposed designs never were thought as progressive as in the days of the Xandar. The Kalichar Lance Cruiser would be the next and final iteration in the lancer design lineage.