why can't we cloak?

[Praetor]

Besides, to paraphrase, "We're with Starfleet. We don't sneak around."

 

[Gary7]

...we decided that the Feds didn't use cloaks because it was a power drain issue. The Klingons and Roms were willing to damn-near cripple their ships to be able to cloak, and the Feds refused to do that.

Well, if that's the case, then when a Romulan ship decloaks it should have relatively lower power levels than a Federation starship and be more vulnerable. Yet, we see several instances where a Romulan Bird of Prey appears to be slightly more powerful than the Enterprise.

However, we see the Defiant successfully employ the cloak in quite a few DS9 episodes, with no reported heavy power drain from usage.

Besides, to paraphrase, "We're with Starfleet. We don't sneak around."

I remember that... and again, I raise the point that interphasic photon torpedoes would be a phenomenal weapon. No sneaking--you're using it during a hostile engagement. The ship is not cloaked, but the torpedoes are... and uncloak inside the vessel for maximum destruction.

Anyway, I understand the overall principle being touted but I still think it's weak, taking a major hit on plausibility--especially when it might have been very useful against the Borg. Still... looks like the point is moot anyway. The series and old-universe movies are extinguished; all we have left is nuTrek.

 

[Anticitizen]

Well, originally, the power drain issues were also due to the Romulan superweapon used in Balance of Terror. The writers just carried on with this 'cannot fire while cloaked' schtick after that.

 

[Praetor]

And I'll again restate that the original idea was that the cloak made the bird of prey the equivalent of a submarine in order for "Balance of Terror" to work. From this perspective, it makes sense for a "space navy" to have some "surface" ships and some "submarines," in terms of what they can do and what they are designed for. But clearly the Romulans have all submarines, so maybe all surface ships isn't a stretch either?

 

[tharpdevenport]

The Mintaka IV (and Ba'ku) incidents prove the Federation are violating both the Prime Directive and the Treaty of Algeron.

Difference there is that the Mintaka duckblind was not cloacking; it was creating a fake holographic rock face over it to hide it. It would be equilivent to the Enterprise projecting holographic space (stars and blackness) around the ship to hide (though it would probably looks lousey in a oval).



The Federation has always tried to uphold it's peaceful appearence. Cloacking yourself to stealth around (even for tactical advantages) just doesn't mesh with a peaceful alliance of people.

And, correct me if wrong, as members of the UFP, don't races share technology? Seems to me a cloacking device is a good thing to limit to the hands of others. Just like not every country (here's looking at you, North Korea) should have a nuclear weapon.