The tick a target drops decloak and does the MWD+Cloak trick (or a cov ops cloak activation), the target might be visible both visually and on overview, but they are invulnerable that tick. No amount of scan res can lock them.
So in order to even begin target locking them, you have to decloak them.
There are two kinds of targets: those doing MWD-cloak trick and those warping cloaked (cov ops and blockade runners)
the MWD-cloak-warp trick: you have ten seconds to:
- Haul ass to where you saw them
- predict which way they were going
- Get within 2km of their ship to decloak them
- have a ship with enough scan res to lock them
- have that ship with enough points to apply tackle to them (3 or more but realistically 5 for a DST)
For blockade runners and cov ops ships it’s even tougher. You have at most a few seconds to do the above list. Having fighters to prevent the re-cloak means:
- they drop gate cloak and can’t recloak
- it’s a race between your scan res and their align time
- your scan res ship needs 3 points
These absurd setups are pretty much the only way to catch non-freighter haulers because BR and Cloak+MWD warps are:
- Cheap to fit for
- Easy to execute
- Expensive / Risky / Highly visible to counter
Making the barrier to entry for safe hauling negligible low (in ISK cost and piloting skill), with minimal sacrifices (in ISK, slot, and piloting attention), and the very few remaining risks can be covered by minimal additional effort (a shuttle scout 1 jump ahead).