Everyone knows there are (using DDS classifications at least) three types of cloaking device. The basic Level 1 Cloak masks a ship's emissions but still leaves a ship detectable by active scans. A Level 2 Cloak also defeats active scans, and a Level 3 Cloak allows for phasing through solid matter (though this is rather specialist and only available on a few ships).
All DDS warships have Level 2 Cloaks, they work great (some nations' cloaks are vulnerable to neutrino scatter but not the DDS') but the problem is they need a lot of power. A Panther 35A for example will need to use around 46% of its total power output to maintain such a cloak (a Level 1 would be much less, around 19%). This means not as much power is available for weapons and shields of course.
DDS Research however have just announced a breakthrough which they term the Level 2B Cloak. Stealth is as good as, if not better than, before but power consumption is said to be around 30% less. This is due to active particle detection and more efficient algorithms. Dr Forbidden said at a media conference, "The Level 2B is intelligent about how strong the cloak is and when, when there is no active detection agent nearby it reduces the cloak field and vice versa. This saves on power consumption."
The reduced power consumption also will also allow for these cloaks to operate for longer before they need to be re-calibrated. An Indy 35B is said to be field testing a prototype cloak now and it is hoped production models can be fitted from late next year.
