A multi-purpose scout hull, the Shantor Scout is the ubiquitous Bintari warship. The Shantor was one of a new breed of designs engineered and built following the T'shann Invasion and incorporated many new technologies developed after that war. The Shantor Scout, for example, was one of the first Bintari ships to mount the new twin x-ray laser weaponry.

The Shantor entered service as a jack-of-all-trades hull performing all scouting and exploratory missions in addition to serving as jump capable cargo ships to make priority courier runs to research outposts at home and abroad. This proliferation of ships equipped with ELINT level sensor units allowed even greater versatility for the fleet, as groups of Shantors could easily transition from exploration missions to fleet combat support with ease.

Upon contact with the K'Thonn and the ensuing involvement of the Bintari Federation in the K'Thonn civil war, the Shantor shined as a warship capable of handling itself in the field. Though they did not have the raw destructive capabilities of the K'Thonn ships of the line, the Shantor was faster, more maneuverable, and more versatile than anything in the K'Thonn fleet. This ability to adapt to the ever changing face of the battlefield allowed the Shantor Scouts to see unusually low mortality rates in that conflict. This can be attributed to the fast attack tactics that the Bintari used, dropping out of hyperspace and making an attack run against enemy targets and then retreating from the field back to hyperspace.

Following the K'Thonn Rebellion, the Bintari Federation ceased construction of new Shantor Scouts, instead diverting military spending to such things as technology development and refits. The basic design of the Shantor would later be reflected in the Kudronni Mothership, a great command explorer named after the first Shantor Scout to fall to the K'Thonn.

It was the development of Tachyon Cannon technologies in 2059 that rendered the Shantors obsolete overnight. The tachyon cannon could not be installed onto the Shantor hull without removing much of its weaponry, and the Iliad Strike Destroyer had served as a far better warship than the Shantor had during the K'Thonn Rebellion and could also easily accept the tachyon cannon refit.

Sixteen Shantor Scouts remained in the Bintari Federation navy as of 2060. These ships were beginning to feel their age, however, and were relegated mostly to transport missions between Bintarus and her colonies. A handful were still used for exploration missions, accompanying the Kudronni Mothership on her forays into the Great Nebula.