Active search sensor and missile fire control range

Player Questions
1

Why is it that missile fire control has a much longer range than active search sensor? Same techs, size and resolution. Doesn’t that mean that you could not bother with sensors and just use fire control? Or do you first have to detect a target with a search sensor that a fire control can then target?

1 Like
2

This is the answer.

I think sensors are larger because you only need one or a few (really one per fleet but you usually want some redundancy), whereas every ship needs at least one MFC and usually wants several for granularity.

1 Like
3

A fire control is pointed at a specific (already detected) target. An active sensor is effective in all directions so requires a lot more power for the same range.

3 Likes
4

In the Real world Search radars are larger and more complex than tracking radars which just follow a target and guide things after the Search system has found it. Track while can radars are even more complicated doing both and can be nicely represented by a search sensor and some MFC’s.

And as a radiocative beverage said in both the real world and Aurora you need both. Although the ability to slave a MFC to a passive detector would be nice but break the principles of the game set up

5

You need both. One detects things, other guides a missile.

Missile controls are longer ranged than sensors to make the idea of bigger sensor on another ship painting the target viable.

6

Inverse square law.