This episode was one of the first Star Trek episodes to make extensive use of CGI. The Defiant, the Jem'Hadar fighter, the atmospheric probe and the clouds were all created in a computer.
Major Kira's baseball cap is from Pittsburgh, PA's past (1900-1950) local Negro professional baseball league, the Homestead Grays.
James Cromwell plays Hanok in this episode. He has previously played 2 different characters in the TNG series: Prime Minister Nayrok in "The Hunted" (1990) & Jaglom Shrek in "Birthright: Parts 1 & 2" (1993), where he initially met with Worf on Deep Space 9. Cromwell is best known for his portrayal of the famous Zefram Cochrane (the inventor of warp drive) in the TNG movie "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996), a character he would reprise in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Enterprise (2001). Star Trek: Voyager remains the lone 90s Star Trek spin-off series in which he has not appeared.
Final appearance of the Karemma.
Kira's suggestion of setting up a four-shift crew rotation on Deep Space 9 was later put into effect in "Accession".