Active Sensors
- Functional Characteristics:
- Power Output
- Brightness
- Divergence
Active sensors are phased-array radars or lidar systems. They are used for
hi-res target identification. Active sensors are used to track vessels whose
drives are not active, and so are the primary sensors system at shorter ranges.
The decision to 'go active' is a major tactical choice as the sensor system
becomes visible at a considerably greater range that that at which it can detect
targets.
Radar systems require much less accuracy for aperture synthesis than optical
sensors, so a common strategy is to deploy the emitters and detectors on sensor
drones. This provides much greater resolution and also keeps the bright radio
emission away from the controlling ship.
The future of Ad Astra
