3-Tiered Active Sensors

[Borealis4x (OP)]

So most people run with a standard 2-tier Active Sensor setup where one sensor is meant to spot capital ships around 5000 tons while the other is set to resolution 1 and is meant to spot missiles and fighters.

I've been experimenting with adding a 3rd intermediate tier of AS to my ships that is dedicated to spotting ships 1000 tons. On beam ships these would be the standard AS while they'ed be an addition to missile ships so they can see and hit almost any ship at a good distance (Missile FC for ASMs are all set to detect 1000 tons and above).

The full suite of 3 sensors generally go on ships 10k tons and larger, and each sensors only weighs 50-100 tons unless its for a command ship. I don't think that is a lot to give up for have better coverage across all resolutions.

[xenoscepter]

 --- That's a decent setup, a lot of people will do a 3-Tier with Anti-Ship / Anti-Fighter / Anti-Missile. The Anti-Fighter would be Res 10 and equal in size to the of the Res 1 Anti-Missile, giving better coverage. Also, I myself use a TAS (Target Acquisition System) on many of my ships, especially Beam armed ones. The TAS is a 5-Ton Resolution 1 Active Sensor, since it can detect anything and generally has enough range for any beam weapon to acquire a target. 5 Tons isn't much, even on a fighter, and on larger ships it allows them to keep shooting even if the main sensor is shot up. It doubles as a crappy Anti-Missile sensor too, good enough for Final Fire [Self] if the ship is equipped with Beam PD.

 --- On some vessels, usually ones that are not designed with the express intent of getting shot at, I use a 4-Tier System. One Res 1 sensor, one Res 10, one Res 500, and one with a resolution equal to the ship's own tonnage. I don't use this if the ship is bigger than, oh say, about 18,000 tons. Alternatively I use a 4-Tier that swaps the sensor that is based on the ship's tonnage to a Res 100. I then add EM / TH Passives, typically with the passives being 25 Tons per, while the Actives are 50 tons per. This gives me a sensor package that is Commercial and weighs exactly as much as a Survey Sensor (Geo / Grav). It's less useful in C# than VB6 on account of the new sensor model making all sensors better, but it's a comprehensive package.

[Jaz010]

My ships tend to operate within a fleet, lets say I have 6 destroyers and 6 cruisers escorting a battleship , each will have a different sensor with different resolution ( same size) .  Changing the sensor in the design is minimal and ships are still constructed in the same shipyard.  For the above example this will give me a total of 12 sensors   size 3 distributed  2 Em  2 Th   2 Active R 1 , 2 Active R10 2 Active R100, 1 Active R25   1 active R5

[xenoscepter]

@Jaz010

 - That's... unorthodox to say the least, and I'm the guy who builds crap like a Fighter-Sized Fuel Tanker. Do you double up on any of them, the Resolutions that is, it would suck big time if your only Anti-Missile Sensor bought the farm when fighting... stuff...

[d.rodin]

So most people run with a standard 2-tier Active Sensor setup where one sensor is meant to spot capital ships around 5000 tons while the other is set to resolution 1 and is meant to spot missiles and fighters.

I've been experimenting with adding a 3rd intermediate tier of AS to my ships that is dedicated to spotting ships 1000 tons. On beam ships these would be the standard AS while they'ed be an addition to missile ships so they can see and hit almost any ship at a good distance (Missile FC for ASMs are all set to detect 1000 tons and above).

The full suite of 3 sensors generally go on ships 10k tons and larger, and each sensors only weighs 50-100 tons unless its for a command ship. I don't think that is a lot to give up for have better coverage across all resolutions.

My fleet Surveillance Cruisers done with 3 sensors + 2 fighter-scouts

Zenit M7 class Surveillance Cruiser      9 980 tons       255 Crew       12 335.4 BP       TCS 200    TH 100    EM 0
12526 km/s      Armour 10-41       Shields 0-0       HTK 56      Sensors 250/250/0/0      DCR 70      PPV 0
Maint Life 4.79 Years     MSP 10 125    AFR 80%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 726    5YR 10 890    Max Repair 2031.25 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 1 000 tons     Cryogenic Berths 200   
Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Flight Crew Berths 20    Morale Check Required   

Gas Core AM Drive  EP1250.00 (2)    Power 2500    Fuel Use 7.91%    Signature 50.00    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 000 000 Litres    Range 228.2 billion km (210 days at full power)

CIWS-600 (2x12)    Range 1000 km     TS: 60 000 km/s     ROF 5       
Active Search Sensor AS342-R20 (5%) (1)     GPS 20000     Range 342.4m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor AS126-R1 (5%) (1)     GPS 1000     Range 126.2m km    MCR 11.4m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor AS585-R100 (5%) (1)     GPS 100000     Range 585.6m km    Resolution 100
EM Sensor EM5-250 (5%) (1)     Sensitivity 250     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  125m km
Thermal Sensor TH5-250 (5%) (1)     Sensitivity 250     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  125m km

ECM 70

Strike Group
2x Tu-142 M7 Fighter-Scout   Speed: 51218 km/s    Size: 8.79

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

[Zincat]

I have always used a 3 sensors solution. AM, AF and AS. Of course not all ships get them all. They are costly and somewhat large too.
Same with thermal and EM, every fleet has them.

The possible downsides of a fleet not having complete sensor coverage are simply too great. Good sensor coverage is a must.

[misanthropope]

theres small sensors for convenience and redundancy*, but my actual long range detection capability hinges on dedicated sensor platforms mounting large thermals and actives in res5 and 18.  big missile and ship sensors are highly convenient, but if i'm on a budget, i'm cutting whatever i can to make myself more dangerous to enemy attack craft. 

fighter-based scouting looks to be appreciably more cost-effective than ship-based in A# but that's just more clicking than i'm willing to countenance.

*there is also VERY DEFINITELY such a thing as spending too much on your sensor suite!

[Jorgen_CAB]

Sensors are both expensive to produce and more importantly to research, especially in many different ressolutions.

As small scouts and scout crafts are more effective in C# that is what I tend to go for.

I usually have some standard military sensors at around 100t and a more dedicated sensors at around 250t in many different resolutions... standard types are typically (but not exclusively) 1,5,20,100 but I often see many other types more depending on dynamic needs (what enemies I face).

Most capital ships get two sometimes three active sensors, depending on their role... but in addition to that almost all capital ships have some hangars for additional sensor scouts. A small fighter scout with a 250t sensors are very cost effective, especially when they can be pooled and combined with other scout crafts.

A typical destroyer would likely have a 100t resolution 1 and a 250t resolution 5 sensor in addition to 500-1000t hangar with a few different extra sensor scouts of different types. The role of the destroyer in this case are for either patrol or escorting a carrier. Their job is to defend the carrier against fighters and missiles primarily. They also should be able to detach and chase after potential threats in smaller destroyer groups.

Depending on the type of ship and when in time a certain ship is built they get different active sensors. But when there is a developed fleet structure with carriers then large resolution active sensors almost never get attached to capital ships anymore as missile system on capital ships tend to be relatively short range at that stage, they are mainly for self defence. The main striking force in terms of missiles lie with the carrier strike force. Large resolution sensors are attached to scouts or smaller ships only.

As active sensors are very rarely used to find enemies there are very little use to build them for that purpose, especially large resolution ones. These sensors can be seen at such huge distances when active they can't be used for that purpose very effectively.

Even a decently large resolution 5 can typically have enough range for a medium range missile at most targets, a network of resolution 5 scouts is hell to penetrate for any enemy fighters or ships. But even these active sensors can be easily detected by enemy EM scouts at relative ease at good distances, much further than the sensor can see. Aggressive sensor scouting is only possible if you know you are dominating the engagement.

In terms of resources it also is relatively easy to maintain a good technology discover rate if you keep the individual sensor sizes small and as few as possible. The same goes for the cost of the production as well.

If you are very rich and have a good technological advantages on an enemy then affording large expensive sensor suites can be hugely beneficial as well. Now you can spot and paint the enemy at very safe distances without risking any scouts. But there always is the risk of underestimating the opponent and revealing your expensive sensor ship to the enemy.

These are some of my thoughts and operational use of many different types of sensors. I would say that small resolution sensors are by far the most important as large resolution sensors can for the most part be very small, mainly because missile ranges are much smaller than they were in VB6 and scouting with active sensors are very dangerous.

[DFNewb]

I generally only use 2 resolutions and then different sizes for my needs. Generally the resolutions are 1 (always) and 200.

[smoelf]

I always go for three tiers at least with the highest resolution being at 15.000 tons or higher, usually designed to match the larger enemy ships if I know their size. Then the second is designed for smaller ships in the region of 5.000-7.500 tons, and finally of course, the res 1 sensor for missiles and close-combat fighters.