In Star Trek, if the Federation is so technologically advanced, how come they do not have cloaking devices like the less advanced Klingons?

[Guest]

I'm posting this because this is a question I have often wondered for many decades now..... 

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Firstly the Klingons are not technologically inferior to the Federation. They have a stellar empire almost as large as the Federation.

Moreover their starships are a match for Federation vessels. In the future we know that if it weren't for the incident with Enterprise C the Federation would have lost the war according to Picard. However cloaking technology is not really the Klingons balliwick that is a Romulan advance.

So the real question is why the Federation doesn't create cloaking technology.

The answer lies in the Treaty of Algeron. Where the Federation agreed in 2311, 160 years after the Earth/Romulan war (and after TOS), not to engage in creating cloaking technology and only make detection devices.

We also know that Sector 31 did engage in developing cloaking technology, as shown in the episode The Pegasus. And the Federation wasn't opposed to stealing the cloaking devices either, as it gave Kirk and Spock orders to do so in the episode The Enterprise Incident.

Mark you, the Romulans weren't opposed to loaning the Federation said tech. Consider the history of the USS Defiant for example.

I hope this answers the question.

Colin Johnson, studies at Ryerson University (2019)

 

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