From: ajm@seqp4.sequoia.com (A.J.Madison)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.tech
Subject: Re: Cloaking device and the Fed.
Date: 8 Sep 92 16:29:57 GMT
Organization: Sequoia Systems Inc., Marlboro, Mass.

In article <1992Sep3.152056.14571@news.unomaha.edu>, tomcat@cwis.unomaha.edu (Jeffrey S. Jo) writes:
> 
> 	I remember someone had asked this before a while back.  The reponse
> went something like this:
> 	The Federation has the ability to use the cloaking device, but
> that would give reason to other races not to trust the Federation.  The
> UFP do not need a cloaking device because they do not violate nor wish
> to give any reason to violate any of its current or future treaties, peace
> talks, etc.  Also, the UFP is not a military organization, so there would
> not be a logical need for a cloaking device if they are strictly an 
> exploratory organization.
> 	Another reason, which kind of makes sense, is that the ships of
> the Federation are much too large to cloak, the power needed to cloak
> a Galaxy class ship would be tremendous.  That's why most of the
> Klingon and Romulan ships are small.  I don't know about any specific 
> layouts for the Romulan Warbird (which is about the size of a Galaxy class
> ship), but I can imagine the size of their engine room.  Now we know that
> the Galaxy class ship is faster than a Warbird, probably because of the
> energy the cloaking shield consumes.
> 

Though the source is the AMT/ERTL "Adversaries" Model kit, it is stated there
that the Warbird is at least dimensionally larger than the galaxy class ship.

From what I have seen from the show, the warbird is portrayed at least as
large as the -D.  However, various YATIs indicate how the show is nortorious
for not keeping things in perspective :-).


To add more fuel to the discussion, here are all the arguments I have ever
heard for why the Feds/SF don't have/use the cloaking device.  I have just
updated it with the recent stellar-political arguments that have recently
appeared here (and I find most persuasive).


Here is the TechFandom Reasoning:

(excuse the paraphrase, i'm on the less filling side of this debate, so some
might object to my choice of words for the explanations in this category)

The Federation does not use the Romulan Cloaking device because:

a) It requires an extremely specialized hull design, of which the TOS
Enterprise was extremely lucky that it worked.  However, it seems to fail on
just about any other vessel.  The Feds, in an effort to utilize resources with
the best return on investment, "gave up" on the technology.

b) The cloaking system, in order to work at reasonable levels of efficency
requires large amounts of the element "Unobtainium" (Ux) built into the outer
hulls of the vessel it is to cloak.  Unobtainium is extremely rare and
expensive to purify.  Therefore, Star Fleet scouts and border monitors are
equiped with the system, but typical ships of the line (eg. the Enterprise
original, -A, et al.) are not.  Some arguments suggest that Star Fleet policy
(leaving the typical commander out on the cold) on this technology is an
attempt to convince the Romulans that the Feds/Star Fleet does not have a
mastery of the technology.


Here is the Reasoning generated by everyone else on R.A.S(.T);

The Federation does not use the Cloaking device because:

1. It Does Not Work.  Evidence suggesting this comes from several sources.  In
ST:TSFS, then Adminal Kirk (& Sulu, et al.) was able to defeat the Klingon
version of the cloaking device without ANY special training OR special sensor
hardware.  TNG era long range sensors regularly detect cloaked vessel
movements.  In ST:TNG's Redemption II, no less than two (rather hastily
thought out, I might add) methodologies are shown that defeat TNG era Romulan
Cloaking devices.  In ST:TUC, it has been demonstrated that Klingon cloaking
devices do nothing to obscure the propulsion (impulse) system emissions, and
thus make the vessel's location detectable.

2. (a) Star Fleet Commanders Hate it.  The supporting evidence here is
relatively thin.  As demonstrated in only a couple of episodes, Romulan battle
tactics are to creep up on your target and when at point blank range, fire
your weapon (Plasma bolts, which are like a space going shotgun, in comparison
to the Fed's machine gun like Phasers) and Run Like Hell.  Should you miss your
target...  We have seen that Kirk likes to run around at high warp and blast
away with everything he has operational.  Picard tends to prefer more complex
maneuvers with higher percentages of success (or fewer casualties).  Neither
strategy seems to include skulking around under cover of invisibility and
blowing away the inattentive adversary.
2. (b) In the TNG era, intra-galactic politics indicate that unrestrained
Federation use of cloak technology would undermine its "We Come In Peace"
policies and reputation.  Therefore, shooting at enemies from cover of
invisibility may be prohibited for reasons of policy rather than a deficiency
of expertise or technology.  However, ST:TUC, shows that this battle tactic
is not above Klingon principles, especially if firing the weapon never
reveals your location.

3. There are no spin-off technologies from it.  This is based more on
conjecture than any displayed evidence, and it only takes one script to
provide the necessary counter example.  Phasers can be de-tuned to provide a
variety of materials processing methods (cutting, heat treating, material
change), the Transporter in various guises provides replication systems and
recreational equipment.  One could suggest that the cloaking device only has
military (or the less charged word, defense) applications.  Since Star Fleet
is more interested in uncovering interesting stuff, rather the covering it up,
the cloaking device provides very little interest to the Federation Science
Foundation principal investigators.  Also, the technology is subject to
obsolescence, like any other.  Indeed, this was the message of the closing
scene in the TOS episode "The Enterprise Incident" that introduced the
"treknology".  There does seem to be a cloak gap in ST:TNG, as evidenced by
one episode where Picard, in an attempt assertain the motives of a "defecting"
Romulan General, requests him to divulge the cloaking device "secret."

In summary, the technology has a number of strikes against it.  It has limited
basic research appeal, only defense related applications, and subject to rapid
obsolescence.

-- 
when everyone is out to get you, being paranoid is just good thinking.
         - Dr. Johnny Fever <in other words, standard disclaimer>
A.J. Madison                                           ajm@sequoia.com
Sequoia Systems Inc.