Thermal Sensors

A Thermal Sensor is a passive sensor component that allows detection of ships, missiles and colonies without emitting radiation itself.

Overview

Thermal sensors work by detecting and tracking objects which give off thermal signature, such as engines on enemy ships and missiles, or the population on colonies. A Thermal Sensor is a passive sensor, which means that it gives you situational awareness without giving away your position. However, its contacts cannot be used by the Fire Control for targeting - you need an active sensor contact for that.

The range at which a contact can be detected is given by:

[[C#]] range = SQRT(Passive Sensor Strength * Target Signature ) * 250,000 km
[[VB6]] range = Passive Sensor Strength * Target Signature Strength * 1000 km 
Passive Sensor Strength = Size * Thermal Sensitivity

Larger sensors are more useful in both versions of the game, but smaller sensors are much more powerful in C#, and larger ones are much more powerful in VB6.

Like all electronic systems, thermal sensors are vulnerable to High-Powered Microwave attack.

Usage

Thermal sensors are used to detect enemy targets. Thermal signatures tend to be weaker than EM signatures, meaning that their effective detection range is shorter than EM Sensors. However, virtually everything has a thermal signature, unlike EM signatures (which can easily be avoided), so the all-round ability to detect almost anything sentient makes thermal sensors an excellent addition to survey and scout vessels.

In C#, thermal sensors of size 1 HS or less are commercial components, while any that are larger than 1 HS are military components. Ships have no innate sensors, so they can only detect thermal signatures if they mount a dedicated thermal sensor.

In VB6, all thermal sensors are military components. To allow commercial vessels some basic vision, every ship has a default thermal rating of 1, which can be increased by the addition of a dedicated thermal sensor.

Statistics

The cost of a sensor is equal to its sensitivity, multiplied by a factor based on the Electronic Hardening value. In C# the cost is 100% Uridium, and in VB6, it's 75% Uridium and 25% Duranium.

A sensor of size 1 HS or greater has 1 HTK, and a sensor of size smaller than 1 has 0 HTK. The crew need is size*2, rounded normally.

Thermal Sensor Sensitivity

Sensitivity	5	6	8	11	14	18	24	32	40	50	60	75
RP cost	1000	2000	4000	8000	15000	30000	60000	120000	250000	500000	1000000	2000000

Electronic Hardening

Electronic Hardening is used to resist the effects of High-Powered Microwave weapons. The Electronic Hardening technologies differ between versions

Electronic Hardening (C#)
Hardening	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Chance of Destruction (%)	100	70	50	30	20	10	5
RP cost	Free	2500	5000	10000	20000	40000	80000
Sensor cost	Free	0.15	0.25	0.35	0.5	0.75	1

Electronic Hardening (VB6)
Hardening	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Chance of Destruction (%)	100	70	50	40	30	25	20	15	10
RP cost	1000	2500	5000	10000	20000	40000	75000	150000	300000