The Future of UFP Technology

l33telboi · Post by **l33telboi** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 3:11 pm

From episodes during the entire run of the various series of Star Trek we've been given bits and pieces of information on the future of the UFP, what it looks like and what kind of technology it employs. So i thought i'd start a thread that tried to map out these various technologies and the improvements employed.

Mostly i'd like to know what canon says the future of the UFP will be like, but if you want, you can branch out into guessing as well, just as long as you clearly distingish between guess and fact. And if you wish you could also try to estimate just how much technology itself has progressed since Enterprise all the way to Nemesis. But like i said, i'm mostly interested in what the UFP will look like in the, as of yet, unseen future of the UFP.

So this is basically a thread about the technological progression of the UFP.

CrippledVulture · Post by **CrippledVulture** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 4:49 pm

Well, according to that one Enterprise episode, The Klingons will eventually join the Federation. Given the current situation in the Alpha Quadrant, we can expect to see the Federation's influence grow. Before he was killed by Worf, Gowron ran the Klingon Empire into the ground, so it may be possible that the Klingons could join up in the near future.

The events of Nemesis have some pretty interesting implications with the Romulans as well. The Federation is in a good position to re-negotiate some terms with them.

Those three, the major powers of the Alpha Quandrant are more buddy-buddy now than ever before, and they can probably learn a lot from each other. We've never seen a major difference between phasers and disruptors, but it is possible that they can learn from one another.

Also, we may see the Federation get full access to cloaking technology. It would be interesting to see how they use it, now that they no longer have to do it in secret or in dire circumstances. With this exchange of information, we may even see a vessel that can fire while cloaked put into full-scale production.

I'd hate to be on the Wars side of the VS Debate if that happens.

Praeothmin · Post by **Praeothmin** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:52 am

CrippledVulture wrote:

Also, we may see the Federation get full access to cloaking technology. It would be interesting to see how they use it, now that they no longer have to do it in secret or in dire circumstances. With this exchange of information, we may even see a vessel that can fire while cloaked put into full-scale production.

I don't see why the Federation would want cloaking technology.
Their approach to space exploration is in a straightfoward, let-them-see-us-coming one.
They don't skulk around under cloak, they openly approach a territory, try to establish contact with the species in that territory, and try to make it as peaceful as possible.
The only time we actually saw a Feddie ship use a cloak is the Defiant, and under very special circumstances: facing an enemy that can infiltrate you, whose weapons would go right through your shields.

I wouldn't see them use the cloaks against the Empire.

GStone · Post by **GStone** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 5:51 pm

I think what they're going with in general is that most major powers are gonna come under the heading of the Federation in some way in the future, either as full members or as some loose conglomerate to share resources more freely. So, cloaks wouldn't be used in major situations unless it was some defense thing, like the cloaked, self-replicating mines or as detection devices with the few that aren't allies.

They might be used more for studying more primative races, older versions of cloaks might be used in intel ops/assasinations.

Praeothmin · Post by **Praeothmin** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:13 am

Gstone wrote:

They might be used more for studying more primative races,

Like they thought they were doing with the Ba'Ku.

CrippledVulture · Post by **CrippledVulture** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 4:26 am

I was really just saying that the Federation will get their hands on the technology. I agree that cloaking devices probably wouldn't be as ubiquitous on Starfleet vessels as they are on Klingon or Romulan ships, but the increased access and cooperation will probably make them even more useful.

GStone · Post by **GStone** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:07 pm

Given the level of minturization of many things, like the one time emergency transporter, and the ubiquitousness of limited AIs, I wouldn't be suprised if we saw more robots going around the Federation. They wouldn't be made to Data or HoloDoc level of sophistications to limit debates on if they're sentient, but maybe somewhere between I, Robot and SW sophistication.