Strategic Weapon

A strategic weapon is a generic classification for any device designed to quickly and efficiently destroy star systems or entire galaxies. Capable of wiping even a low-end post-scarcity civilization out of existence, these dreaded weapons are often limited in number and heavily regulated by the powers that be.

Utility

While strategic weapons may incorporate the same technologies used to make their smaller brethren, they sacrifice tactical flexibility and ease of use for the ability to erase entire swathes of space from a star chart at lightning speed. Modern strategic arsenals are utilized in a manner most comparable to the nuclear deterrents of old nation-states - their destructive power deters direct hostilities between armed superpowers, and when used rapidly degrade an enemy's ability to wage war. Major staging grounds, hostile strategic capabilities, and key population and production centers simply cease to exist provided enough munitions are aimed at the target.
Three common categories of strategic weapons exist: semi-stationary artillery systems, like the Quasar Lensing Array or Nicoll-Dyson beam, FTL-equipped missiles with supernova/dimensional collapse warheads, and (absurdly) giant bombs like the Press-Teukolsky mine; almost everything that could intercept a strategic weapon is a strategic weapon itself.

Access & Availability

Very few societies have the technology, the industry, or the inclination to indigenously produce interstellar strategic weapons. Creating even a handful of starcrackers is a time-consuming and resource-intensive endeavour for anything less than a Kardashev Type III civilization - such efforts are better invested in fleets or non-military fields. More advanced systems like the Quasar Lensing Array (and equivalents) are used exclusively by titans at the level of the Federation and Sagittari Union, being megastructures on a literally galactic scale.