A drone ship was a type of auxiliary craft used by Section 31 Control in 2257 after going rogue.
These craft were compact enough to be stacked into the hull of NCIA-93-type starships. They were armed with directed energy weapons comparable to Class C shuttlecraft in combat, though their refracted lattice shields left them vulnerable when targeted from the port and starboard directions simultaneously.
In 2257, Control employed large numbers of drone ships during its attempt to seize the Sphere data from USS Discovery by force. In addition to direct fire, it also launched waves of drone ships in kamikaze attacks to weaken Discovery's shields. As Discovery traveled into the future, the drone ships attempted to intercept them, but the USS Enterprise and her fleet provided Discovery with covering fire. All of the drone ships became inert after the Control nanites inside Leland were neutralized and Captain Christopher Pike took the opportunity to have the Enterprise finish them off. (DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2")
This design of vessel was identified on an on-screen display as a "drone ship"; in dialogue, they were simply called "drones".