> Roger Malmstein wrote:
> > One of them is that there is actually nowhere to hide in space. No
> > horizon to hide behind or other "terrain" features. And the
> launching
> > platforms sensors will be far better than the sensor suite carried
> > onboard a missile. Missiles has a limited field of view, so if they
> > loose their target ther may be little chance for them to regain the
> > target.
> >
> The correct solution to this is self-guided missiles with onboard
> sensors (passive, for power reasons, most likely), with long-range
> guidance by the mother ship until the missile is close.
>
> The primary reason for self-guiding is light-speed lag. Over
> the ranges
> TNE assumes, a remote guided missile has a major problem with
> communication and sensor lag.
>
>
>
Maximum short range for an MFD is 10 hexes (1 light second) so extreme range
is 80 hexes (8 light seconds) this would give a maximum lag of 16 seconds
(out and back) for the active sensor attached to the MFD. I'm not sure that
given the way ND missiles supposedly work in the TNE universe that that
would make much difference to a warhead which sprays x-ray lasers out to
about a half hex.
Antony