Sensors on missiles

[Zeebie (OP)]

I'm vaguely aware that one can put sensors on missiles so they can find their own targets, but I'm completely ignorant of the specifics.  Can someone walk me through the details?

[SteelChicken]

I am not an expert, but here goes.

There's two kinds of sensors.
Active (grav sensors) and passive (infrared).
You choose how big of a sensor, and what resolution you want, very similar to active sensors on ships.

If you fire a bunch of missiles at a ship, and it blows up while some missiles are still en-route, they will hunt for other targets using these sensors.   You can also experiment with firing missiles at waypoints before having an active firing solution.

PROTIP:  using active sensors on your missiles will alert the enemy to your position if they already don't know you are there, which is why I use IR missiles only on my fighters.  I build fighters with thermal reduction engines and they use the active sensors of my carriers to lock on their targets.   I sneak in, launch the missiles before they even know I am there.  If they had active sensors, they would go hot as soon as they launched, blowing stealth out of the water.

[strych90]

Additionally, IIRC adding sensors can also take up a lot of space, at least the active variety, because it also adds a reactor to power the sensor.

[Zeebie (OP)]

Are there rules of thumb for how many sensors are necessary to get all the ships in one group?

[SteelChicken]

Are there rules of thumb for how many sensors are necessary to get all the ships in one group?

Many times NPR's will travel in groups, at close range.   They generally only spread out when damaged or returning for ordnance.
Experiment.