FTIII: ECM

I won't pretend to be a physicist, but the conceptualizations of ECM and what
not mentioned in this thread gives me pause. One of the things that bugs me
about the "cloaking" systems seen on many TV and movie portrayal shows the
cloaked ship being invisible. All well and good, but the purported ranges
mentioned in most SF games/books/TV shows/Movies are way beyond visual
range. Why spend all the energy (and money) to make yourself invisiable to an
oponent that won't see you anyway? Heck, most naval weaponry today targets
thing you can't see, due to range, night time conditions, etc. How the heck am
I going to be able to see that NSL frigate at (enter huge astronomical
distance here) when I have a hard time seeing the rest of my own convoy?

I think that "cloaking" technology will be something closer to modern
"stealth" technology. By using Radar Absorbant Materials (RAM), specially
shaped fuselages/hulls, and thrust/emmissions dampening and obscuration,
modern "stealth" aircraft (B-2, F-117) are able to fool most modern
tracking
systems (primarily radar and heat-seeking).  They can still be seen and
heard (barely), but their use at night precludes the use of ol' Private Joe
Snuffy's eyes to fire ADA. So, by using the same basic techniques and
fundamental concepts, the ships and fighters of the future should be able to
do the same, that is, baffle the enemy's sensors and tracking systems until a
new generation of tracking system comes out to beat the old stealth tech. The
next generation of stealth tech will fool the old sensor tech and so on, ad
infinatum. Now for chaff, flares, jamming pods, etc., I would say anything
goes. The
active sensors on a missile/torp should be easy to jam, maybe the use of
small nukes for the EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) to fool/scramble the
sensors.  The active jamming of the enemy's ship-borne target
acquisition sensors would give out huge ammounts of (highly) detectable
radiation. Just a few thoughts. Like I said, I don't know thing one about
physics (to be really honest, I think Newtonian movement would make FT dull as
watching paint dry), but I know a thing or two about weapons and detection
theory. My military service has given me just a bit of (simulated) application
in those fields also. I learned early on the benefits of obfuscation and
obscuration (can't shoot what you can't see). And remember, it's just a game.
> From Sniper's Alley,

Hello,

        As it has been mentioned several times already the ECM-ECCM
thing is usually based on the respective tech levels of the 2 countries
involved. Country A with tech level 5 will have and EW advantage over country
B with a tech level of 1. A guy wearing camouflage with a pair of binoculars
has a definite advantage over Joe Shmoe in his pants and sunglasses. For game
purposes just say that ship A has class X sensors(X being the
effectiveness) and class X ECM.  This would add/subtract the ability to
find your enemy. Cloaking would just be a very high ECM value. There are a
bazillion ways to play with this. Active jamming, decoys, chaff, active
sensors, etc.......