I’ve been watching TNG and an episode had Picard asking the Klingons for the use of one of their cloaking ships. In TOS, Kirk stole a cloaking device from the Romulans. So why didn’t Starfleet develop this technology for their star ships?
IRL, Gene Roddenberry allegedly told his writing staff that Starfleet was the good guys, and the good guys shouldn’t be sneaking around behind cloaking devices.
Hmmm…I can go with an awful lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense in the real world, but not developing cloaking tech because we’re the good guys? So that means we have to kowtow to the Klingons and Romulans for the use of the technology? Don’t make no sense to me.
Well, the canonical reason was because the treaty ended hostilities with the Romulans, and not deploying cloaking devices was a concession of the treaty. Presumably, the Federation got something they considered equally valuable in exchange for that.
But the “real” reason is that Gene thought cloaking devices were devious. He was a little batty in his later years, and his pronouncements often hampered competent writing. See the endless debate about Picard shouting “Starfleet is not a military organization!” And the not having money. And the “no longer enslaving animals for food.” And so on.
DS9 fixed a lot of these problems by putting our heroes in an alien environment. They can use money (because they are hanging around in a primitive culture with sniff an economy); they can have a cloaking device on the Defiant, because the Romulans granted a special exception to the treaty in exchange for intelligence on The Dominion; etc.
The federation was the lamest army in the history of fake history. They were constantly getting their asses handed to them, all the freaking time. They were beaten by tribbles, for christ’s sake.
The only battles they decisively won was when their security officer or captain managed to get into a 1 on 1 honor fight or something.
Don’t forget the most pernicious one of all: Starfleet officers have no flaws. They always brave, honest, and true. They are always best of friends. Interpersonal conflict is impossible because the Federation has evolved beyond it.
You want to hamstring your writers, force them to come up with stories centered around protagonists who can’t disagree with each other because they’re all always right.
Security officers don’t have a great track record either.
And don’t forget that they did secretly work on a cloaking device–albeit a different technology to that of the Romulans. Section 31 made the Federation a lot more believable.
Because the use of cloaking devices is underhand, unfair, and damned un-English.
I think that its because the patent holders wouldn’t sell the Federation a licence to manufacture.
Being the good guys they couldn’t be in breach of copyright.
I wonder if he thought America was underhanded and sneaky when the F117 Nighthawk was unveiled in the 80s.
I remember the “traitor from within” episodes of TNG would only pass Gene’s approval when it was specifically crafted that the traitors on Starfleet were being controlled by an alien entity. He simply would not entertain the possibility that Starfleet officers would ever “go rogue” and attempt a coup.
The stories got a little more interesting when he passed away since they had a little more freedom to be flexible with Starfleet itself and its motives and decisions.
And let’s keep in mind that eventually the Federation was allowed to have cloaking technology, so long as it was only put on ships that were designed and used to fight The Dominion.
To defend Roddenberry, you could argue that in Earth’s past certain once-used military weapons were outlawed and not used again. Poison gas was widely used by both sides in World War I and virtually not at all in the second (we’ll leave out the Holocaust because those weren’t military operations). Although I can’t see why cloaking technology would be so disdained in the 23rd century, even judging by the fact it’s super clean. Perhaps Roddenberry should have insisted using it had side effects: damage to ship’s crew and should be limited like X-Rays are today.
What about Star Trek 6? That had traitorous Starfleet officers. Gene was alive for the filming of that, although not for the release, IIRC.
Nitpick: Navy.
My personal fanwank is that during the 70 Years between ST4 and TNG, Federation cloaking technology was outpaced my Romulan detection technology.
I always liked Lieutenant Reg Barclay on TNG. He was the most real character on that ship. Nervous, insecure and horny. He was the one programming these wild fantasies on the holodeck. I still laugh at the episode where counselor Troi meets her fantasy counterpart on the holodeck. You knew Reg was banging her every night. 
Yeah, but was that John Locke, or the Man in Black impersonating John Locke?
I’m sure someone’s mentioned the treaty Picard once alludes to that prohbits it. My fanwank has always been that the Federation was pressured into that after the events of Star Trek II: i.e., after the terrible power of the Genesis device was revealed. It was, remember, invented by a Federation scientist, and Starfleet was clearly helping to plan its first use. If I were a Klingon or a Romulan, I’d not be inclined to believe the Federation’s claims that it was meant only for peaceful purposes. Further, I can imagine the other great powers considering going to war simply because of the existence of such a device, and the Federation deciding it couldn’t risk it. Thus, at the negotiatons to avoid the threatened conflict, all three powers foreswore any attempt to recreate it, and the Federation, as punishment for actually making on in the first place, having to agree to never attempt cloaking tech.