Computer Aided Attacks & Radar

[archhealer]

In the design sequence, it states that a radar system is required for computer aided attacks. Is this a misprint? I should think any sensor system capable of detecting the presence of a target would work... Holographic video, sonar, etc. Obviously ladar would be an exception since it has to be piggybacked onto a radar system anyhow.

Also, what do they mean by computer-aided attacks? Would this be a gunner firing a weapon using the computer's software, like predict?

And one more question... Can radar detect small, low altitude targets? I know very little about this. I wonder if computer-aided attacks vs. ground targets, specifically infantry, would be possible.

 

[mbrinkhues]

On the point of radar and detecting low altitude objects:

It can. Some AAA tanks can even detect the ventilators on a lavatory and automatically engage them with 40mm guns.

Jokes about the US trying to build an AAA tank aside, most current generation AAA systems use radar and their primary enemies are helicopters and other low flying critters. If there is a LOS it can be detected. According to a recent article the GEPARD can track and engage low flying drones.


If you go in the other direction: If it moves and reflects radar waves, a modern Look-Down system can normally detect it. When the E3C Sentry AWACS where first brought to germany, they reported a massive cruise missile attack from/towards the Dutch-German border: They where tracking cars going 200+ km/h on the A30 (then known as Porsche Test Track). If you look up H2S (Brit. WWII airborne radar) you can see what early generation stuff can do.

Ground Survillance radar (ground based) can pick up humans on a short range, again mostly due to movement.

So I'd say it's save to assume that a modern (1980s+ techbase) radar can detect vehicles and infantry groups of 6-10 persons. The difficulty depends on wether they are moving and how well they are camouflaged. Regular structures (Foxholes, Bunkers) are easier to detect than irregular ones (advancing line of rifleman)

 

[archhealer]

Hmm... So siingle, stealthy soldiers would be very hard (But not, maybe, impossible at higher TL?) to detect.... Good to know!