Created by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane on Aug 16, 2016 @ 2:57pm

CLOAKING TECHNOLOGY

The Federation's history with cloaking technology has been mixed. Stealth technology aboard starships is an obvious tactical advantage, but it is not one that the Federation has been able to invest much research in. When the Treaty of Algeron was signed with the Romulans in 2311, the Federation specifically agreed not to attempt to develop cloaking technology.

This treaty was not honoured. In 2358, a secret group within Starfleet Intelligence researched, developed and tested a new kind of stealth technology - the phasing cloaking device, or 'phase cloak'. This device phase-sequenced the structure of matter and energy so that any ship utilising one could pass directly through normal matter in that 'phased' state. The phase-cloak was revealed to an astonished galaxy during a diplomatic incident between the Romulans and Federation in 2370.

Following the Romulan Incursion of 2413, a state of phoney war has existed between both the Romulans and the Federation. With no treaties to honour, the Federation has begun to again experiment with cloaking technology, equipping specially-chosen starships with the device (or, in the case of the Scarab-class, sensor blocking fields). Although no doubt lagging behind Romulan stealth technology, it is likely to be many years before Starfleet obtains the permission from the Federation to roll out the technology to its active fleet.

As a final note, Federation cloaking technology was again publicly revealed to the quadrant when the USS Century, thought missing for 13 years, decloaked in the sky over the city of Paris in 2429. It was an event witnessed by millions of people and the footage was quickly transmitted across the galaxy, proving that the Federation does, to some extent, possess the technology.