Cloaking device

Cloaking devices are a technology utilised by numerous species to render ships, stations, equipment, personal and even planets invisible to the naked eye and/or sensors.

Cloaking technology has existed in the galaxy for some time however in the affairs of the major Alpha and Beta Quadrant powers the technology only started to come into use in the 22nd century.

Cloaking in the 22nd century
Humans first encountered cloaking technology in confrontations with the Suliban Cabal who used the technology on there cell ships and stealth cruisers. After their initial encounters the Enterprise NX-01 was fitted with Quantum beacons (provided by temporal agent Daniels) capable of penetrating Suliban cloaks.
 * It is possible that the Suliban received the cloaking technology from there own temporal benefactor, in which case Daniels actions could be seen as balancing the temporal differential. Alternatively the development of the technology could have been a pre-destination paradox, without Daniels giving Captain Archer the quantum beacons cloaks may never have been penetrated. Also Daniels motivations were never entirely clear and he may himself have been attempting to alter past events as part of the Temporal Cold War. Whatever the motivation may have been these technologies became present in the 22nd Century

The Enterprise encountered three other species who employed stealth technology (analogous to cloaking technology); The Xyrillians, who used it to hide out of fear rather than for great tactical advantage. The Sphere Builders and the Romulans.

The sphere builders were an extra dimensional race who used cloaking fields to hide there space transforming spheres in the Delphic Expanse. The spheres had been placed in the expanse aproximatly a thousand years ago and the sphere builders had temporal technologies so the origins of this particular type of cloak are as mysterious as those of the Suliban. (Enterprise: Season 3)

In 2152 the Enterprise stumbled into a cloaked Romulan mine field, using the Quantum beacons they could successfully detect the mines but not two Birds-of-Prey in the area (Enterprise episode: Minefield). Presumably a method of detecting the more advanced cloaks on the Birds-of-Prey was found soon after as cloaking in the 23rd century was seen as something of a holy grail (Indicating all previous cloaking technologies had become obsolete).

An arms race
Cloaking and sensor technologies apparently came to an apex and reached a stale mate at some point to the extent that by the year 2266 when the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) encountered a new Romulan cloaking device in use on a Bird-of-Prey it was quite a surprise. (TOS episode: Balance of Terror)

The new Romulan cloak used so much power it precluded the use of weaponry and warp drive and the Enterprise was able to track it however it could still be considered a success and the Romulans quickly advanced the design to make its use more practical. It was around this time the Romulans entered into an alliance with the Klingons in which the Klingons were given the secrets of cloaking technology. With two enemy states using cloaking technology the Federation was keen to find ways to detect cloaked vessels to the extent that they even stole a Romulan cloaking devise from a Romulan battlecruiser in 2268 (TOS episode: The Enterprise Incident). Over the next century the federation learnt to detect sensor blips associated with cloaks, in return cloaking technology advanced. In 2293 the Klingons successfully modified a Bird-of-Prey to be able to fire weapons whilst cloaked. Captain Kirk and his crew eventually defeated this vessel by using a specially modified torpedo which tracked the ships plasma exhausts. (Star Trek Movie: The Undiscovered Country)

By the 24th century cloak detection was becoming common place, Federation boarders used gravimetric sensor nets and in 2368 the Enterprise-D's chief engineer Geordi La Forge developed a more advanced technique, the tachyon detection grid using tachyon beams transmitted between different locations to exposed cloaked vessels (TNG episode: Redemption (part 2)). The Dominion and Cardassians used antiproton beams to located cloaked ships.

By 2379 the latest iteration of the cloak had overcome all these problems. The Warbird Scimitar's cloak did not give off any tachyon emissions or residual antiprotons making it undetectable, in addition the Scimitar could maintain shields and fire through its cloak. The Scimitar was only stopped by the heroic efforts of the Enterprise-E's crew, in particular Commander Data who sacrificed himself to destroy the Warbird. (Star Trek Movie: Nemesis)

Interphasic Cloaking
Along side the development of standard cloaks all three of the major powers experimented in the development of interphasic cloaks. An Interphasic cloak will not just make the target invisible but also capable of passing through solid materials. The Federation was successful in developing the technology in 2358 though that fact was unknown to them for some time when the test ship for the device the USS Pegasus was lost. The Pegasus was rediscovered in an asteroid field in 2370 where the Enterprise-D recovered and used the interphase cloak before making its existence known to a Romulan Warbird in the vicinity. This event was quite illegal under the Treaty of Algeron (see below) and further use and development was prohibited. (TNG episode: The Pegasus)

In response the Klingons tried and failed to develope there own Phase cloak as did the Romulans. There initial experiments failed but by 2376 the empire had succeeded and implemented phase cloaks in Tal Shiar Shadow class Vessels. (Star Trek Game: Armada)

The Federation and Cloaking technology
The Federation is banned from using cloaking technology under the treaty of Algeron but never the less has done so on several occasions; Aside from the aforementioned USS Pegasus incident, the federation has deployed cloaks on shuttles (Star Trek: Titan Novel: Taking Wing), in duck blind missions in the use of Anthropological isolation suits (Speculation: The federation may have gained some kind of special dispensation in the treaty for this kind of use of cloaking technology) and for use in at least one holoship (though the incident in question was orchestrated by Section 31 who frequently bypass legality in favour of their goals). (Star Trek Movie: Insurrection and DS9 Novel: Section 31 - Abyss)

Both incarnations of the Defiant class USS Defiant have been fitted with cloaking devices. However these devices are of Romulan origin and are specially sanctioned under the treaty for use in the Gamma Quadrant. A fact which hasn't stopped the Defiant’s commanders Benjamin Sisko and Elias Vaughn from using the cloak on numerous occasions outside of the Gamma Quadrant.

The Federation has also been known to circumvent the treaty of Algeron by enlisting the aid of cloak enabled Klingon ships in certain operations.

Cloaking in the mirror universe
In the mirror universe cloaks were also used by the Suliban in the 22nd century. The ISS Enterprise NX-01 used a Suliban cloaking devise from a captured cell ship to enter Tholian space in 2155. The Enterprise was able to use weapons through the cloak. (Enterprise episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly")

The Klingon-Cardassian Alliance of the 24th Century also had cloaking technology used on number of ships however in 2375 The Alliance kidnapped the regular universe Grand Nagus Zek to blackmail Quark into stealing a Klingon cloaking devise from a regular universe vessel. This was either a slightly different mirror universe (several variations of the mirror universe have been established) or just as in the regular universe cloaks and sensors had advanced to a point where a new type of cloak was required. (DS9 episode: "The Emperor's New Cloak")

Cloaking in the Delta Quadrant
In her time in the Delta Quadrant the USS Voyager encountered relatively few species with cloaking technology, it may be that they simply didn't meet the quadrants numerous cloaking species or indeed said species stayed cloaked, or it maybe the quadrants generally anarchic level of political development has so far prevented the majority of species developing cloaking technology.

It is also worthy of note that the Borg in there thousands of years of existence and many recorded encounters with cloak capable species must have at some point assimilated cloaking technology, fortunately they so far seemed to have not felt the necessity to deploy the technology in there fleet...

Species and organisations which use cloaking technology

 * The Cardassian Union
 * Obsidian Order Keldon class


 * The Hierarchy
 * The Klingon Empire
 * B'rel class Bird-of-Prey
 * K'vort class Bird-of-Prey
 * K't'inga class
 * Vor'cha class
 * Negh'Var class


 * The Klingon-Cardassian Alliance (MU)
 * Galor class
 * Vor'cha class


 * The Romulan Star Empire
 * 22nd century Bird-of-Prey
 * 23rd century Bird of Prey
 * D7
 * D'deridex class Warbird
 * Mogai class
 * Scimitar


 * The Sphere Builders
 * The Suliban Cabal
 * Cell-ship
 * Stealth Cruisers


 * The Terran Empire (MU)
 * ISS Enterprise NX-01


 * The United Federation of Planets
 * USS Pegasus
 * USS Defiant


 * The Voth
 * The Xyrillians