Insurrection's Invisible Suits

[Tebok]

Any good explanation as to why these suits that allowed observers to walk among the Baku were not used for military purposes? Would have been handy in the Dominions War.

I'm sure they don't block sensor readings and anyone with a scanner would know your there, but that would be moot in a typical firefight. Phase fire would be visible, but again, an enemy would not be able to track your movements as you run from one spot to the next.

As I was writing this, I remembered they had an external power source (All the suits became visible when Data fired on the observation post) Still, I am sure they could have had some sort of power generator nearby - especially for defensive and Garrison duties.

 

[The Wormhole]

Presumably the suits are ineffective when there's someone with technology to detect it. After all, in Insurrection we see them used to observe a population with no technology at all. Even in a firefight when there's no time to whip out the tricorder, as soon as you fire your phaser, the enemy will have a rough idea where you are and could likely fire on you.

Besides, the suits look like they encumber the wearer's mobility and aside from being invisible, they offer little protection. It maybe considered impractical to wear the outfit in a combat situation, especially when there's presumably purpose built combat armour which offers limited protection and allows for the necessary mobility.

 

[Spot261]

Likeliest explanation that immediately occurs is that they were developed either during the war or immediately after with a view to replicating the Jem Hadars innate abilities. Whether they were intended to use fighting the Dominion or as a lesson learnt for future military encounters is unclear.

For all we know they may well have been used during the war by ground forces.

 

[Timo]

The most obvious tactical shortcoming is that the suits vitally depend on a nearby building the size of a small hill!

The moment the machinery in the building goes offline, every single one of the suits immediately loses invisibility. Clearly, there's no independent invisibility machinery in the suits.

But quite possibly, there is no invisibility-related machinery in the suits at all! Rather, invisibility is something the holo-generators atop the building project around the researchers, and the suits are just your standard sample-gathering coveralls that keep your flaking skin or smelly breath from disturbing the experiments.

My bet is that the bright color of the suits acts as a target for the holo-generators to allow them to properly align their projection, but that a much lighter suit of the same color could already do that trick; the additional isolation from the helmet and all is for research purposes.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Thot Tnak]

Any good explanation as to why these suits that allowed observers to walk among the Baku were not used for military purposes? Would have been handy in the Dominions War.

I'm sure they don't block sensor readings and anyone with a scanner would know your there, but that would be moot in a typical firefight. Phase fire would be visible, but again, an enemy would not be able to track your movements as you run from one spot to the next.

As I was writing this, I remembered they had an external power source (All the suits became visible when Data fired on the observation post) Still, I am sure they could have had some sort of power generator nearby - especially for defensive and Garrison duties.

Read "Section 31 Disavowed" by David Mack. Both the Federation and the Breen have them and use them in combat. Both are self-powered. Breen is a shimmer suit. While using them, friends appear as color-coded shadows. Breen use is by Spetskar. Federation use is by Section 31.