Work on sensor suite integration into the basic spaceframe has been continuing, with the latest pass covering three areas: refining the navigational radio telescope installation, initial passive sensor placement, and long range long-range investigative sensor placement.
Input from the astronomy team has resulted in the adoption of a forward facing radio telescopy array for long range navigation, with the intention to utilise field technology under development at ATCA to supplement the necessarily smaller dish utilised for this installation. “Small” is, however, a relative term, leaving the remaining complication of having no space for a redundant backup dish of similar capability due to the vessel’s intentionally narrow forward profile, and the mirrored ventral location being taken by the boat bay.
As such, instead of a full power array, a smaller reserve telescope dish has been incorporated allowing, should the main array be damaged beyond feasible repair, limp-home capability. This is currently located on the port side of the boat bay, though this remains a provisional location.
Also undertaken during this integration pass is commencement of implementation of passive tactical sensor arrays. While the actual makeup of mounted equipment remains to be finalised it is envisaged that each mount will contain a full, broad spectrum, sensor package capable of, at a minimum, intensity and direction finding. In this manner, by the use of multiple arrays for triangulation, the crew will be able to undertake ranging and Target Motion Analysis (TMA) for tactical and navigational (including, potentially, mapping) purposes.
It is anticipated that these combined should give good coverage around the forward approximately 300 degrees of the hull. It is expected however that interference from drive wash will severely degrade or even completely nullify coverage across the stern 60 degrees at anything more than minimal outputs.
The Naval Architecture team is also currently investigating the feasibility of a towed passive array to help supplement the hull mounted sensor suite by increasing base sensor separation.
This, however, is likely to come at a cost to vessel manoeuvrability during deployment and operation. While it is envisaged that the towed array chassis would incorporate its own limited guidance and RCS, hard manoeuvring with it deployed is not recommended due to the risk of potential wire break or collision with the main hull. With that in mind, it is however recommended that a minimum acceleration of at least 0.1G be maintained during deployment and scanning to maintain wire tension and assist control of the array. While this minimum should be observed it is also noted that the towed array would necessarily sit directly in the vessel’s engine wash, thus negating its utility at higher outputs anyway.
Despite its limitations, the potential utility and advantage offered by the towed array (especially for a vessel doing its best impression of an empty patch of space) is seen as worthwhile enough to continue investigations.
This array is still very much under development, but is currently envisaged as a much higher fidelity, narrow aperture, sensor suite, useful for gathering detailed information at a distance (on a system-wide level, rather than over superluminal ranges). However, due to its narrow focus, it is likely to be near useless in tactical applications.
The concept of the towed array is a good one - it's the approach used by submarines to achieve the same results in terms of improved sensor improvement. A physically connected/towed approach might b ethe best approach underwater given the pressure and currents exerted by the ocean, but in space a semi-autonomous approach could work? Along the lines of a computer-controlled drone with a narrow-band link to the vessel.
This would provide greater flexibility - the sensor drones could operate all around the vessel, and you could conceivably have more than one in operation at any one time. The computer could take care of launch, positioning and docking based on a mission profile chsoen by the crew (with theopetion to assume manual control if needed?).
Torpedoes also take advantage of the vessel's superior sensor systems to guide them after launch. A narrow-beam laser system is envisaged for this, to replace what was traditionally (on subs) a wire. The transmitter on the ship keeps track of the torp for as long as it can, until the ship has to maneuver away (in which case the wire is "cut"). You'd probably have more options for keep in touch with a drone (more transmitters maybe?).
Torps are inherently expendable, though. I imagine you'd need to accept the fact you might lose a few drones if extreme maneuvers were required before recovery was possible?