In the alternate timeline, ablative generators were developed as an anti-Borg technology by Captain Janeway. Invented some time after they encountered the transwarp hub hidden inside a nebula in 2378, but chose not to investigate it further. She used the technology to protect Voyager against the Borg on their voyage back to Earth. By 2404, ablative generators had not yet become standard equipment on Starfleet vessels. Ships like the USS Rhode Island were not equipped with them. Also, the Klingons did not yet possess ablative generators.