Difference between revisions of "Cloaking device"

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===Federation and the Cloaking Device===
 
===Federation and the Cloaking Device===
  
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The Federation has developed
 
== How the Cloaking Device Works ==
 
== How the Cloaking Device Works ==
  
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[[Category:Engineering]]
 
[[Category:Engineering]]
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[[File:Cloaking device distortion.jpg|thumb|[[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] points out the blurry distortion of a cloaked [[Klingon Bird-of-Prey|Bird-of-Prey]]]]
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{{aquote|Have you learned to see in the dark, Captain?|[[Praetor]] [[Shinzon]]|2379|10}}
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A '''cloaking device''', also known as a '''cloaking system''',''' cloaking shield''' or '''invisibility screen''', was a form of [[stealth]] [[technology]] that used selective bending of light (and other forms of energy) to render a [[starship]] or other object completely invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum and most [[sensor]]s. It was encountered in varying forms over the centuries. For a period of time, the [[Federation]] considered it the most strategically important [[Romulan technology]].
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== History ==
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=== Early cloaking technology ===
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[[File:Suliban cloaking device.jpg|thumb|Suliban cloaking device]]
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[[Human]]ity's earliest-known encounter with cloaking technology came in the year [[1986]] in the [[Bering Sea]]. [[Admiral]] [[James T. Kirk]], having traveled back in time, decloaked the [[Klingon Bird-of-Prey]] he was commanding to waylay and frighten some whale hunters from killing two [[humpback whale]]s.
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One of Humanity's earliest exposures to cloaking technology was in [[April]] of [[2151]], when agents of the {{dis|Cabal|Suliban}} approached the starship {{EnterpriseNX}} undetected and kidnapped a Klingon national named [[Klaang]] from the ship's sickbay. The [[Suliban]] used cloaking devices on many of their ships, including the {{dis|Suliban cell ship|spherical|cell}} {{dis|Suliban cell ship|cylindrical|ships}}, [[Suliban stealth cruiser|stealth cruisers]] and [[Suliban freighter|salvage ships]]. The Suliban's cloaking technology had been given to them by [[Humanoid Figure|their mysterious benefactor]] from the [[28th century]].
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During a battle near a [[Suliban helix]] in a class seven [[gas giant]], ''Enterprise'' managed to capture a cell ship. Chief Engineer [[Charles Tucker III]] studied the device in his spare time, and in [[2152]] the ship was used to mount a rescue mission. Unfortunately, Tucker's experience with cloaking technology was somewhat limited and he accidentally doused his hand with the particles the ship used to generate the cloaking effect, temporarily rendering it invisible.
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''Enterprise'' learned how to penetrate a Suliban cloaking device in March 2152, when the [[temporal agent]] {{dis|Daniels|Crewman}} explained how to construct a [[quantum beacon]] so that ''Enterprise'' could reveal the location of the cloaked stealth-cruiser responsible for the destruction of [[Paraagan II]].
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{{bginfo|Suliban cloaking devices seem to use a form of particle radiation to render objects invisible.}}
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[[File:Romulan bird-of-prey, ENT-aft, cloaking.jpg|thumb|Romulan Bird-of-Prey cloaking]] ''Enterprise'' was also responsible for an encounter with another organization that used stealth technology, the [[Romulan Star Empire]]. In April 2152, the ship accidentally entered a cloaked [[minefield]] protecting a [[Romulan]]-claimed planet. The quantum beacons proved effective against the minefield, but when two [[Romulan Bird-of-Prey (22nd century)|Birds-of-Prey]] suddenly arrived, ''Enterprise'' was not able to penetrate their more advanced cloaks.
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=== Federation encounters with cloaking technology ===
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In [[2256]], the {{USS|Shenzhou}} encountered a cloaked [[Sarcophagus|Klingon vessel]]. Another cloaked [[Klingon cleave ship|Klingon vessel]] [[kamikaze|rammed]] the {{USS|Europa}} to demonstrate the technology to the [[Klingon High Council|High Council]] during the [[Battle of the Binary Stars]]. ({{DIS|The Vulcan Hello|Battle at the Binary Stars}}) The Klingon cloak used gravitational bending to conceal the ship from sensors and was a key tactical advantage for the Klingons during the {{dis|Federation-Klingon War|2256-57}}. At the [[Battle of Pahvo]], the {{USS|Discovery}} devised a method of penetrating the Klingon cloak, destroying the ''[[Sarcophagus]]''. This put the two sides on a more even footing once again.
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By the [[2260s]], despite the fact that Romulans and Klingons had demonstrated such technology within their own respective [[empire]]s, this wasn't the case within the [[Federation]]; although the idea of practical invisibility was considered theoretically possible with selective bending of light, but at an enormous cost of power.
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In [[2266]], the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} encountered a {{dis|Romulan Bird-of-Prey|23rd century}} that used a cloaking device to cross the [[Romulan Neutral Zone]] and wipe out several [[Earth Outpost Station]]s. The ''Enterprise'' was able to defeat the Bird-of-Prey in battle, partially because the cloaked ship was still visible to tracking sensors, but there was no doubt that the Romulans possessed a practical invisibility screen.
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[[File:Romulan cloaking device.jpg|thumb|The improved Romulan cloak]]
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In [[2268]], the Federation learned that the Romulans had developed a new and improved cloaking device; one that even tracking sensors could not pick up and that posed a threat to the security of the Federation. On [[stardate|stardate 5027.3]], [[Starfleet Intelligence]] sent the ''Enterprise'' on a covert mission across the Neutral Zone to acquire the new cloak. The mission was a success, and [[Starfleet]] was able to procure an intact, modern Romulan cloaking device for study. The Federation also acquired a cloaking device from a captured Klingon Bird-of-Prey, dubbed the "{{HMS|Bounty}}", in [[2286]].
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By [[2269]], cloaking devices had further spread within the [[Klingon Empire]] as well. One of the first Klingon vessels to be equipped with the device was the {{IKS|Klothos}}, whose Commander, [[Kor]], used it to great effect at the Battle of [[Caleb IV]]. The device was soon used aboard many other Klingon vessels, such as the [[Klingon Bird-of-Prey|Bird-of-Prey]]. At the time Kor acquired the cloaking device, only a [[Klingon 23rd engineers 001|handful of engineers]] in the Imperial Fleet knew how to operate them.
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In [[2311]], with the signing of the [[Treaty of Algeron]], the Federation explicitly agreed not to develop or use cloaking technology. The [[Bajoran Provisional Government]] also outlawed cloaking devices, stating that the possession of such a device was highly illegal.
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[[File:Quark's cloaking device.jpg|thumb|left|Quark's cloaking device]]
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In [[2370]], [[Quark]] illegally acquired a small cloaking device that was, as he put it, "not in the best of condition", but it "will work for about fifteen minutes." Initially intending to sell it, Quark instead installed it in the central engine core of a [[Cardassian shuttle]], piloted by [[Natima Lang]], to help the ship escape [[Deep Space 9]] undetected.
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Following the outbreak of hostilities with the [[Dominion]] in late 2370, the Romulan Empire allowed the use of one of their own cloaks aboard the {{USS|Defiant|2370}}. Although this was originally limited to usage within the [[Gamma Quadrant]], {{Captain}} [[Benjamin Sisko]] chose to ignore this limitation whenever it was convenient. In order to ensure that the cloak was used correctly, Sub-Commander [[T'Rul]] was assigned to the ''Defiant'' initially, during the ship's first mission with the cloak. In exchange, Starfleet had to provide all the intelligence it received on the Dominion.
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Prior to the Cardassians joining the Dominion in [[2373]], and flushing the Klingons and [[Maquis]] out of their territory, the [[Klingon High Council]] decided to aid the Maquis in their fight against [[Cardassia]]. They provided the Maquis with thirty [[class-4 cloaking device]]s with the Klingons' understanding that they were to be used on Maquis ships.
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In [[2373]], [[Miles O'Brien]], [[Jadzia Dax]], and [[Rom]] employed cloaking technology to hide the [[self-replicating mine|self-replicating minefield]] blocking the [[Bajoran wormhole]]. Also, the Federation equipped one of their [[Federation holoship|holoships]] with a cloak in [[2375]].
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[[File:Klingon cloaking device.jpg|thumb|A Klingon cloaking device]]
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Although quite heavy, according to Rom, Klingon cloaking devices weigh less than Romulan cloaking devices.
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It was even possible for an entire planetary body to be rendered invisible. The [[planet]] [[Aldea]] was equipped with a powerful cloaking device that allowed itself to fully cloak.
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By the late [[32nd century]], vessels such as the [[Emerald Chain]]'s ''[[Viridian]]'' and [[Booker's ship]] were equipped with cloaking technology. The ability to cloak was also part of the [[refit]] to the ''Discovery'' in [[3189]].
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=== Alternate reality ===
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In the [[alternate reality]] caused by the temporal incursion of the ''[[Narada]]'', the Federation was already bound to treaties banning cloaked weapons as early as [[2259]].
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== Mechanics of a cloak ==
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In order to function, most cloaking devices needed to be tied into a ship's [[deflector shield]] grid. When activated, the cloaking device projects a cloaking field, also known as cloaking shields, around the vessel which selectively bend the path of light and sensors to render the vessel invisible and undetectable. The shield can be expanded to cloak multiple vessels. However, some models of cloaking device could work without being tied into anything, even having a limited power supply of their own.
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Most vessels could not use their weapons and deflector shields when cloaked. Ships of the Klingon {{class|D12}}, for example, were vulnerable to attack for two seconds when their shields automatically dropped as the cloaking field formed. Ships like the ''[[Scimitar]]'' with more advanced cloaking technology however did not have this problem, as it had primary and secondary shields and weapon systems that could remain online while the ship was cloaked.
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;Components:
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*[[Projection matrix]]
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*[[Tetryon compositor]]
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=== Penetrating the cloak ===
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Ever since the initial introduction of the cloaking device, there was an ongoing race between the development of new cloaking technologies and the development of new detection systems that could defeat them.
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[[File:QuantumBeacon.jpg|thumb|Quantum beacon deployed]]
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Starfleet's earliest method of penetrating cloaks was developed in 2152, when Daniels provided ''Enterprise'' with [[31st century]] [[quantum beacon]]s so they could locate a Suliban stealth-cruiser. These devices also proved effective against the Romulan cloaking devices used on mines but were ineffective against the Bird-of-Prey cloaking devices.
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The cloak used by the ''Sarcophagus'' in [[2256]] used a massive [[gravity|gravitational field]] to bend light and [[electromagnetic radiation]] around the ship, rendering it invisible to [[sensor]]s. However, imperfections in the field led to near-imperceptible shifts in the background [[electromagnetic field]]. Using portable sensor devices surreptitiously planted on the ''Sarcophagus'', ''Discovery'' made 133 micro-jumps with the aid of its [[spore drive]], taking readings from multiple [[vector analysis|vectors]] in a matter of minutes. Using these readings, ''Discovery'' analyzed the correlation between the cloak's field and the background electromagnetic field, allowing the formulation of an [[algorithm]] that exposed the enemy ship's position. This ultimately led to the ''Sarcophagus''{{'}} destruction.
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The cloak used by the Romulan Bird-of-Prey that crossed the Neutral Zone in 2266 was less than perfect, allowing a starship to pick up a blip on its motion tracking sensors. This blip was not accurate enough for targeting of weapons and only appeared when the vessel moved, but it was enough to help the ''Enterprise'' locate the enemy vessel. By 2268, advances in Romulan technology had removed the problem, forcing Starfleet to steal a model of the new cloak.
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Versions of the cloak used by the Klingons in the late [[23rd century]] also had their flaws. Cloaked {{class|D7}} [[battle cruiser]]s could be detected using a [[metaphasic sweep]]. Energy "distortions", manifesting themselves most often as refracting visible light energy from surrounding stellar objects very near the cloaked ship's outline, appearing as a "shimmering" effect, while cloaked and prior to decloaking, could give away a cloaked ship when observed.  In [[2293]], the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-A|-A}} developed a method of using a [[photon torpedo]] to track the [[plasma exhaust]] of a cloaked ship.
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In the [[24th century]], the Federation protected its borders from cloaked Romulan incursion by a [[gravitic sensor net]]. In [[2368]], [[Geordi La Forge]] developed a technique called the [[tachyon detection grid]] that used tachyon beams transmitted between different points to expose cloaked objects. Soon, this had been implemented on the Federation's border outposts as well as in Klingon space.
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In [[2371]] it was not commonly understood by Starfleet personnel that cloaked ships radiate a slight subspace variance at warp speeds. These variances typically vanished once the vessel drops out of warp. If a cloaked ship exceeded its maximum propulsion capacity, it would not be able to fully cloak, and would appear on navigational sensors as a sensor echo.
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Using modified cloaks, a combined fleet of Romulan and [[Cardassian]] warships attempted to conduct a sneak attack on {{dis|Founders' homeworld|2371}} in 2371. They determined that as long as their fleet traveled under the speed of [[warp factor|warp 6]] their [[warp signature]]s would remain undetected, even while under cloak. This modification, however, did not prevent the fleet from being detected by the sensors aboard [[Deep Space 9]]. In this case, the cloaked fleet appeared as high concentrations of [[tetryon]] particles.
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Decloaking ships also created a build up of tachyon particles.
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Sensors aboard Deep Space 9 were also able to detect an entire nearby fleet of cloaked Klingon vessels jumping to warp as "a huge distortion wave in subspace", and [[Miles O'Brien]] was able to deduce their heading from the vector of the subspace disturbance.
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The [[Dominion]], as well as the Cardassians, also possessed many methods of breaking through cloaking fields, including a [[long-range tachyon scanner]] and an [[antiproton beam]]. However, these methods were not always effective as [[Thomas Riker]] was able to partially counteract the antiproton beam scanning method by adjusting the cloak's resonance frequency.
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The Dominion's array in the [[Argolis Cluster]] could detect cloaked ships up to two light years away and required approaching the array by navigating the cluster's [[Gravimetric shear]] and [[Gravimetric distortion]].
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The [[Tachyon scan]], also known as a tachyon sweep or tachyon signal, was another method of detecting cloaked ships.
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{{Cloak penetration}}
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== Improvements in cloaking technology ==
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=== Firing when cloaked ===
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Due to the enormous amount of power required to generate a cloaking field, there was, by and large, not enough power available to also power the weapons and shields. When the Romulan cloaking device was first installed on the {{USS|Defiant|2370}}, the ship even had to decloak to use the [[transporter]]. However, there were several times when advances in cloaking technology rendered these tactical inefficiencies untrue.
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[[File:Chang's Bird-of-Prey.jpg|thumb|Prototype Bird-of-Prey, firing while cloaked]]
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For example, in [[2293]], the Klingons developed a [[prototype]] Bird-of-Prey capable of firing [[photon torpedo]]es when cloaked. This ship, commanded by General {{dis|Chang|General}}, was used to secretly attack ''[[Kronos One]]'' in such a way that it appeared the USS ''Enterprise''-A was responsible, implicating ''Enterprise'' commanding officer [[James T. Kirk]] in the assassination of [[Chancellor of the Klingon High Council|Chancellor]] [[Gorkon]]. Fortunately for galactic peace, the ''Enterprise''-A was able to deduce the existence of Chang's ship and devise a way to penetrate its cloak by tracking its plasma exhaust with new sensors for analyzing gaseous anomalies. Using a [[Photon torpedo]] modified to home in on and target that plasma exhaust, the prototype ship was destroyed by the ''Enterprise''-A and the {{USS|Excelsior}} over [[Khitomer]].
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Another advanced cloak was encountered in [[2379]]. The [[Reman]] warbird ''[[Scimitar]]'' employed a new type of "perfect" cloaking device that did not give off any [[tachyon]] emissions or residual [[antiproton]]s, making the ''Scimitar'' completely undetectable while cloaked. It allowed the ship to fire weapons and use shields while cloaked, as well as allow the ship to drop the cloak protecting certain quadrants of the ship without de-cloaking the entire ship at once. The effectiveness of this technology was demonstrated when the ''Scimitar'' engaged the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-E|-E}}, the ''{{dis|Valdore|starship}}'', and another warbird in the [[Bassen Rift]], where it was able to cripple both warbirds without suffering any significant damage. Only through repeated blind targeting, barrages of phasers and torpedoes, and the use of [[telepathic]] triangulation by Commander [[Deanna Troi]], was the ''Enterprise''-E able to overcome the ''Scimitar''{{'}}s cloak.
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In addition, the [[mirror universe]] {{ISS|Enterprise|NX-01}} was able to fire weapons while cloaked using a [[Suliban]] cloaking device. However, the cloak did appear to ''momentarily'' fail a few seconds after ''Enterprise'' launched torpedoes, perhaps indicating that the Imperial ship had insufficient power for simultaneous use of weapons and cloak.
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''In an [[anti-time future|alternate future]], [[Klingon attack cruiser]]s apparently had the ability to fire while cloaked, as they were able to damage the {{USS|Pasteur}} before decloaking.''
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=== The interphase cloak ===
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[[File:Federation cloaking device.jpg|thumb|Phasing cloak device]]
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[[File:Enterprise interphase decloaking.jpg|thumb|The ''Enterprise''-D decloaking in front of a Romulan warbird]]
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The Treaty of Algeron did not stop [[Starfleet Intelligence]] from secretly and illegally developing the [[phasing cloaking device]], a device which not only rendered a starship invisible, but also allowed it to pass through solid matter unimpeded. The device was lost in [[2358]] when the test bed vessel, the {{USS|Pegasus}}, was presumed destroyed by a [[warp core breach]] in a mutiny by members of the crew concerned about the legality of the test. In [[2370]], the ''Pegasus'' was found not to have been destroyed and the existence of the illegal device was made public to the Romulans.
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In the early [[2360s]], the Klingon Empire experimented with [[interphase]] cloaking technology but the research was abandoned due to several accidents.
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In [[2368]] the Romulans also unsuccessfully experimented with interphase cloaking technology, developing an [[interphase generator]] combined with a [[molecular phase inverter]]. The {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}} had received a distress signal from the [[Romulan science science ship|test bed vessel]] and {{Captain}} [[Jean-Luc Picard|Picard]] ordered an [[away team]] sent over to assist. During the mission, due to a malfunction in the device, [[Ensign]] [[Ro Laren]] and [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[Geordi La Forge]] were phase-cloaked during beam-out and rematerialized on different parts of the ''Enterprise''. After attempting to bring them back, the crew gave up, believing them dead. Eventually, Ro and La Forge succeeded in revealing what had happened to them to the crew and Lieutenant Commander [[Data]] managed to reverse the effects of the cloak, bringing them back into phase.
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== Other cloaking device effects ==
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The use of cloaking devices occasionally led to unintended effects. The cloaking device of [[Aldea]] caused significant damage to the [[planet]]'s [[ionosphere]] and [[ozone layer]], leading to increased [[radiation]] on the surface and sterility among the [[Aldean]]s.
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In [[2371]], [[chroniton]] particles generated by the Romulan cloaking device aboard the USS ''Defiant'' became lodged in the ship's [[ablative armor]] matrix. These particles interacted with the ship's [[transporter]] systems, resulting in the accidental transport of several officers backwards through time to early [[21st century]] [[Earth]].
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In [[2372]], a [[The Clown|computer character]] manifesting itself as [[fear]] was offered a cloaking device as a means of keeping its program hidden from future intrusion. To the request, it replied "''I already have a cloaking device, thank you anyway.''" The character's "cloaking device" immediately wrapped the character in a wool cloak.
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== Ships utilizing cloaking devices ==
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=== Classes ===
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* {{Class|B'rel}} ([[Klingon Defense Force]])
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* [[Romulan Bird-of-Prey (22nd century)|Bird-of-Prey (22nd century)]] ([[Romulan Star Empire]])
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* [[Romulan Bird-of-Prey (23rd century)|Bird-of-Prey (23rd century)]] ([[Romulan Star Empire]])
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* Cell ship ([[Suliban]] {{dis|Cabal|Suliban}})
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** [[Suliban cell ship (cylindrical)|Cylindrical type]]
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** [[Suliban cell ship (spherical)|Spherical type]]
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* {{Class|D'deridex}} ([[Romulan Star Empire]])
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* {{Class|D7}} ([[Romulan Star Empire]])
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* {{Class|D12}} ([[Klingon Defense Force]])
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* {{Class|K'vort}} ([[Klingon Defense Force]])
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* [[Negh'Var warship|''Negh'var'' warship]] ([[Klingon Defense Force]])
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* [[Romulan shuttle]] ([[Romulan Star Empire]])
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* [[Suliban stealth cruiser|Stealth cruiser]] (Suliban Cabal)
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* {{type|Valdore}} ([[Romulan Star Empire]])
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* {{Class|Vor'cha}} ([[Klingon Defense Force]])
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=== Individual ships ===
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[[File:USS Defiant decloaks.jpg|thumb|The ''Defiant'' decloaks]]
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* [[Booker's ship]] ([[Kwejian]] [[courier]])
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* {{USS|Defiant|2370}} ([[Federation]] [[Starfleet]])
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* {{USS|Discovery}} ([[Federation]] [[Starfleet]])
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* {{ISS|Enterprise|NX-01}} ([[Terran Empire]])
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* [[Federation holoship]] ([[Federation]] [[Starfleet]])
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* {{IKS|Klothos}} ([[Klingon Defense Force]])
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* ''[[Koranak]]'' ([[Cardassian]] [[Obsidian Order]])
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* ''{{dis|Nightingale|medical transport}}'' ([[Kraylor]])
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* {{USS|Pegasus}} ([[Federation]] [[Starfleet]])
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* [[Regent's flagship]] ([[Klingon-Cardassian Alliance]])
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* ''[[Sarcophagus]]'' ([[Klingon]] [[House of Kor]])
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* ''[[Scimitar]]'' ([[Reman]])
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* ''[[Viridian]]'' ([[Emerald Chain]])
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* [[Voth city ship]] ([[Voth]])
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* [[Voth research vessel]] ([[Voth]])
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* [[Krenim weapon ship]] ([[Krenim Imperium]])
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=== Other ===
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* [[Aldea]] ([[Aldean]]s)
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* [[Delphic Expanse sphere]]s ([[Sphere-Builder]]s)
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* [[Echo Papa 607]] ([[Minosian]])
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* [[Isolation suit]]s ([[Federation]] [[Starfleet]])
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* [[Self-replicating mine]]s ([[Federation]] [[Starfleet]])
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* [[Srivani vessel]]s ([[Srivani]])
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* [[Hierarchy]] ships ([[Hierarchy]])
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* [[Voth city ship]] ([[Voth]])
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* [[Xyrillian starship]] ([[Xyrillian]]s)
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[[Category:Shield technology]]

Revision as of 03:17, 18 October 2021

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A Romulan cloaking device

A cloaking device is a form of stealth technology that bends light to make an object, usually a starship, invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum and most sensors. Many spacefaring cultures use cloaking devices on their ships and installations.

History

Early History

Return of the Cloaking Device

Federation and the Cloaking Device

The Federation has developed

How the Cloaking Device Works

Penetrating the Cloak

Improvements in the Cloak

File:Cloaking device distortion.jpg
Kirk points out the blurry distortion of a cloaked Bird-of-Prey

Template:Aquote A cloaking device, also known as a cloaking system, cloaking shield or invisibility screen, was a form of stealth technology that used selective bending of light (and other forms of energy) to render a starship or other object completely invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum and most sensors. It was encountered in varying forms over the centuries. For a period of time, the Federation considered it the most strategically important Romulan technology.

History

Early cloaking technology

File:Suliban cloaking device.jpg
Suliban cloaking device

Humanity's earliest-known encounter with cloaking technology came in the year 1986 in the Bering Sea. Admiral James T. Kirk, having traveled back in time, decloaked the Klingon Bird-of-Prey he was commanding to waylay and frighten some whale hunters from killing two humpback whales.

One of Humanity's earliest exposures to cloaking technology was in April of 2151, when agents of the Cabal approached the starship Template:EnterpriseNX undetected and kidnapped a Klingon national named Klaang from the ship's sickbay. The Suliban used cloaking devices on many of their ships, including the cell ships, stealth cruisers and salvage ships. The Suliban's cloaking technology had been given to them by their mysterious benefactor from the 28th century.

During a battle near a Suliban helix in a class seven gas giant, Enterprise managed to capture a cell ship. Chief Engineer Charles Tucker III studied the device in his spare time, and in 2152 the ship was used to mount a rescue mission. Unfortunately, Tucker's experience with cloaking technology was somewhat limited and he accidentally doused his hand with the particles the ship used to generate the cloaking effect, temporarily rendering it invisible.

Enterprise learned how to penetrate a Suliban cloaking device in March 2152, when the temporal agent Daniels explained how to construct a quantum beacon so that Enterprise could reveal the location of the cloaked stealth-cruiser responsible for the destruction of Paraagan II.

Template:Bginfo

File:Romulan bird-of-prey, ENT-aft, cloaking.jpg
Romulan Bird-of-Prey cloaking

Enterprise was also responsible for an encounter with another organization that used stealth technology, the Romulan Star Empire. In April 2152, the ship accidentally entered a cloaked minefield protecting a Romulan-claimed planet. The quantum beacons proved effective against the minefield, but when two Birds-of-Prey suddenly arrived, Enterprise was not able to penetrate their more advanced cloaks.

Federation encounters with cloaking technology

In 2256, the USS Shenzhou encountered a cloaked Klingon vessel. Another cloaked Klingon vessel rammed the USS Europa to demonstrate the technology to the High Council during the Battle of the Binary Stars. (Template:DIS) The Klingon cloak used gravitational bending to conceal the ship from sensors and was a key tactical advantage for the Klingons during the Federation-Klingon War. At the Battle of Pahvo, the USS Discovery devised a method of penetrating the Klingon cloak, destroying the Sarcophagus. This put the two sides on a more even footing once again.

By the 2260s, despite the fact that Romulans and Klingons had demonstrated such technology within their own respective empires, this wasn't the case within the Federation; although the idea of practical invisibility was considered theoretically possible with selective bending of light, but at an enormous cost of power.

In 2266, the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 encountered a Romulan Bird-of-Prey that used a cloaking device to cross the Romulan Neutral Zone and wipe out several Earth Outpost Stations. The Enterprise was able to defeat the Bird-of-Prey in battle, partially because the cloaked ship was still visible to tracking sensors, but there was no doubt that the Romulans possessed a practical invisibility screen.

File:Romulan cloaking device.jpg
The improved Romulan cloak

In 2268, the Federation learned that the Romulans had developed a new and improved cloaking device; one that even tracking sensors could not pick up and that posed a threat to the security of the Federation. On stardate 5027.3, Starfleet Intelligence sent the Enterprise on a covert mission across the Neutral Zone to acquire the new cloak. The mission was a success, and Starfleet was able to procure an intact, modern Romulan cloaking device for study. The Federation also acquired a cloaking device from a captured Klingon Bird-of-Prey, dubbed the "HMS Bounty", in 2286.

By 2269, cloaking devices had further spread within the Klingon Empire as well. One of the first Klingon vessels to be equipped with the device was the IKS Klothos, whose Commander, Kor, used it to great effect at the Battle of Caleb IV. The device was soon used aboard many other Klingon vessels, such as the Bird-of-Prey. At the time Kor acquired the cloaking device, only a handful of engineers in the Imperial Fleet knew how to operate them.

In 2311, with the signing of the Treaty of Algeron, the Federation explicitly agreed not to develop or use cloaking technology. The Bajoran Provisional Government also outlawed cloaking devices, stating that the possession of such a device was highly illegal.

File:Quark's cloaking device.jpg
Quark's cloaking device

In 2370, Quark illegally acquired a small cloaking device that was, as he put it, "not in the best of condition", but it "will work for about fifteen minutes." Initially intending to sell it, Quark instead installed it in the central engine core of a Cardassian shuttle, piloted by Natima Lang, to help the ship escape Deep Space 9 undetected.

Following the outbreak of hostilities with the Dominion in late 2370, the Romulan Empire allowed the use of one of their own cloaks aboard the USS Defiant, 2370 . Although this was originally limited to usage within the Gamma Quadrant, Template:Captain Benjamin Sisko chose to ignore this limitation whenever it was convenient. In order to ensure that the cloak was used correctly, Sub-Commander T'Rul was assigned to the Defiant initially, during the ship's first mission with the cloak. In exchange, Starfleet had to provide all the intelligence it received on the Dominion.

Prior to the Cardassians joining the Dominion in 2373, and flushing the Klingons and Maquis out of their territory, the Klingon High Council decided to aid the Maquis in their fight against Cardassia. They provided the Maquis with thirty class-4 cloaking devices with the Klingons' understanding that they were to be used on Maquis ships.

In 2373, Miles O'Brien, Jadzia Dax, and Rom employed cloaking technology to hide the self-replicating minefield blocking the Bajoran wormhole. Also, the Federation equipped one of their holoships with a cloak in 2375.

File:Klingon cloaking device.jpg
A Klingon cloaking device

Although quite heavy, according to Rom, Klingon cloaking devices weigh less than Romulan cloaking devices.

It was even possible for an entire planetary body to be rendered invisible. The planet Aldea was equipped with a powerful cloaking device that allowed itself to fully cloak.

By the late 32nd century, vessels such as the Emerald Chain's Viridian and Booker's ship were equipped with cloaking technology. The ability to cloak was also part of the refit to the Discovery in 3189.

Alternate reality

In the alternate reality caused by the temporal incursion of the Narada, the Federation was already bound to treaties banning cloaked weapons as early as 2259.

Mechanics of a cloak

In order to function, most cloaking devices needed to be tied into a ship's deflector shield grid. When activated, the cloaking device projects a cloaking field, also known as cloaking shields, around the vessel which selectively bend the path of light and sensors to render the vessel invisible and undetectable. The shield can be expanded to cloak multiple vessels. However, some models of cloaking device could work without being tied into anything, even having a limited power supply of their own.

Most vessels could not use their weapons and deflector shields when cloaked. Ships of the Klingon D12-class, for example, were vulnerable to attack for two seconds when their shields automatically dropped as the cloaking field formed. Ships like the Scimitar with more advanced cloaking technology however did not have this problem, as it had primary and secondary shields and weapon systems that could remain online while the ship was cloaked.

Components

Penetrating the cloak

Ever since the initial introduction of the cloaking device, there was an ongoing race between the development of new cloaking technologies and the development of new detection systems that could defeat them.

Quantum beacon deployed

Starfleet's earliest method of penetrating cloaks was developed in 2152, when Daniels provided Enterprise with 31st century quantum beacons so they could locate a Suliban stealth-cruiser. These devices also proved effective against the Romulan cloaking devices used on mines but were ineffective against the Bird-of-Prey cloaking devices.

The cloak used by the Sarcophagus in 2256 used a massive gravitational field to bend light and electromagnetic radiation around the ship, rendering it invisible to sensors. However, imperfections in the field led to near-imperceptible shifts in the background electromagnetic field. Using portable sensor devices surreptitiously planted on the Sarcophagus, Discovery made 133 micro-jumps with the aid of its spore drive, taking readings from multiple vectors in a matter of minutes. Using these readings, Discovery analyzed the correlation between the cloak's field and the background electromagnetic field, allowing the formulation of an algorithm that exposed the enemy ship's position. This ultimately led to the Sarcophagus' destruction.

The cloak used by the Romulan Bird-of-Prey that crossed the Neutral Zone in 2266 was less than perfect, allowing a starship to pick up a blip on its motion tracking sensors. This blip was not accurate enough for targeting of weapons and only appeared when the vessel moved, but it was enough to help the Enterprise locate the enemy vessel. By 2268, advances in Romulan technology had removed the problem, forcing Starfleet to steal a model of the new cloak.

Versions of the cloak used by the Klingons in the late 23rd century also had their flaws. Cloaked D7-class battle cruisers could be detected using a metaphasic sweep. Energy "distortions", manifesting themselves most often as refracting visible light energy from surrounding stellar objects very near the cloaked ship's outline, appearing as a "shimmering" effect, while cloaked and prior to decloaking, could give away a cloaked ship when observed. In 2293, the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A--A developed a method of using a photon torpedo to track the plasma exhaust of a cloaked ship.

In the 24th century, the Federation protected its borders from cloaked Romulan incursion by a gravitic sensor net. In 2368, Geordi La Forge developed a technique called the tachyon detection grid that used tachyon beams transmitted between different points to expose cloaked objects. Soon, this had been implemented on the Federation's border outposts as well as in Klingon space.

In 2371 it was not commonly understood by Starfleet personnel that cloaked ships radiate a slight subspace variance at warp speeds. These variances typically vanished once the vessel drops out of warp. If a cloaked ship exceeded its maximum propulsion capacity, it would not be able to fully cloak, and would appear on navigational sensors as a sensor echo.

Using modified cloaks, a combined fleet of Romulan and Cardassian warships attempted to conduct a sneak attack on Founders' homeworld in 2371. They determined that as long as their fleet traveled under the speed of warp 6 their warp signatures would remain undetected, even while under cloak. This modification, however, did not prevent the fleet from being detected by the sensors aboard Deep Space 9. In this case, the cloaked fleet appeared as high concentrations of tetryon particles.

Decloaking ships also created a build up of tachyon particles.

Sensors aboard Deep Space 9 were also able to detect an entire nearby fleet of cloaked Klingon vessels jumping to warp as "a huge distortion wave in subspace", and Miles O'Brien was able to deduce their heading from the vector of the subspace disturbance.

The Dominion, as well as the Cardassians, also possessed many methods of breaking through cloaking fields, including a long-range tachyon scanner and an antiproton beam. However, these methods were not always effective as Thomas Riker was able to partially counteract the antiproton beam scanning method by adjusting the cloak's resonance frequency.

The Dominion's array in the Argolis Cluster could detect cloaked ships up to two light years away and required approaching the array by navigating the cluster's Gravimetric shear and Gravimetric distortion.

The Tachyon scan, also known as a tachyon sweep or tachyon signal, was another method of detecting cloaked ships.

Template:Cloak penetration

Improvements in cloaking technology

Firing when cloaked

Due to the enormous amount of power required to generate a cloaking field, there was, by and large, not enough power available to also power the weapons and shields. When the Romulan cloaking device was first installed on the USS Defiant, 2370 , the ship even had to decloak to use the transporter. However, there were several times when advances in cloaking technology rendered these tactical inefficiencies untrue.

File:Chang's Bird-of-Prey.jpg
Prototype Bird-of-Prey, firing while cloaked

For example, in 2293, the Klingons developed a prototype Bird-of-Prey capable of firing photon torpedoes when cloaked. This ship, commanded by General Chang, was used to secretly attack Kronos One in such a way that it appeared the USS Enterprise-A was responsible, implicating Enterprise commanding officer James T. Kirk in the assassination of Chancellor Gorkon. Fortunately for galactic peace, the Enterprise-A was able to deduce the existence of Chang's ship and devise a way to penetrate its cloak by tracking its plasma exhaust with new sensors for analyzing gaseous anomalies. Using a Photon torpedo modified to home in on and target that plasma exhaust, the prototype ship was destroyed by the Enterprise-A and the USS Excelsior over Khitomer.

Another advanced cloak was encountered in 2379. The Reman warbird Scimitar employed a new type of "perfect" cloaking device that did not give off any tachyon emissions or residual antiprotons, making the Scimitar completely undetectable while cloaked. It allowed the ship to fire weapons and use shields while cloaked, as well as allow the ship to drop the cloak protecting certain quadrants of the ship without de-cloaking the entire ship at once. The effectiveness of this technology was demonstrated when the Scimitar engaged the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E--E , the Valdore, and another warbird in the Bassen Rift, where it was able to cripple both warbirds without suffering any significant damage. Only through repeated blind targeting, barrages of phasers and torpedoes, and the use of telepathic triangulation by Commander Deanna Troi, was the Enterprise-E able to overcome the Scimitar's cloak.

In addition, the mirror universe ISS Enterprise, NX-01 was able to fire weapons while cloaked using a Suliban cloaking device. However, the cloak did appear to momentarily fail a few seconds after Enterprise launched torpedoes, perhaps indicating that the Imperial ship had insufficient power for simultaneous use of weapons and cloak.

In an alternate future, Klingon attack cruisers apparently had the ability to fire while cloaked, as they were able to damage the USS Pasteur before decloaking.

The interphase cloak

File:Federation cloaking device.jpg
Phasing cloak device
File:Enterprise interphase decloaking.jpg
The Enterprise-D decloaking in front of a Romulan warbird

The Treaty of Algeron did not stop Starfleet Intelligence from secretly and illegally developing the phasing cloaking device, a device which not only rendered a starship invisible, but also allowed it to pass through solid matter unimpeded. The device was lost in 2358 when the test bed vessel, the USS Pegasus, was presumed destroyed by a warp core breach in a mutiny by members of the crew concerned about the legality of the test. In 2370, the Pegasus was found not to have been destroyed and the existence of the illegal device was made public to the Romulans.

In the early 2360s, the Klingon Empire experimented with interphase cloaking technology but the research was abandoned due to several accidents.

In 2368 the Romulans also unsuccessfully experimented with interphase cloaking technology, developing an interphase generator combined with a molecular phase inverter. The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D--D had received a distress signal from the test bed vessel and Template:Captain Picard ordered an away team sent over to assist. During the mission, due to a malfunction in the device, Ensign Ro Laren and Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge were phase-cloaked during beam-out and rematerialized on different parts of the Enterprise. After attempting to bring them back, the crew gave up, believing them dead. Eventually, Ro and La Forge succeeded in revealing what had happened to them to the crew and Lieutenant Commander Data managed to reverse the effects of the cloak, bringing them back into phase.

Other cloaking device effects

The use of cloaking devices occasionally led to unintended effects. The cloaking device of Aldea caused significant damage to the planet's ionosphere and ozone layer, leading to increased radiation on the surface and sterility among the Aldeans.

In 2371, chroniton particles generated by the Romulan cloaking device aboard the USS Defiant became lodged in the ship's ablative armor matrix. These particles interacted with the ship's transporter systems, resulting in the accidental transport of several officers backwards through time to early 21st century Earth.

In 2372, a computer character manifesting itself as fear was offered a cloaking device as a means of keeping its program hidden from future intrusion. To the request, it replied "I already have a cloaking device, thank you anyway." The character's "cloaking device" immediately wrapped the character in a wool cloak.

Ships utilizing cloaking devices

Classes

Individual ships

File:USS Defiant decloaks.jpg
The Defiant decloaks

Other

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