Sovereign Class Sensor Systems
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Science and Remote Sensing Systems
The primary long range and navigation sensor system is located behind the main deflector dish, primarily to avoid sensor "ghosts" and other detrimental effects consistent with deflector dish millicochrane static field output, as well as provide a safe haven for the system within the engineering hull. An additional suite is located behind the saucer deflector dish, and although more limited, can be used in emergency situations should the primary system become damaged or fail. The two systems are not designed to work in concert, due to the complexities involved in maintaining a subspace field capable of allowing two independent deflector beams to pass through.
Lateral sensor pallets are located around the rim of the entire starship, providing full coverage in all standard scientific fields, but with emphasis in the following areas:
- Astronomical phenomena
- Planetary analysis
- Remote life-form analysis
- EM scanning
- Passive neutrino scanning
- Parametric subspace field stress (a scan to search for cloaked ships)
- Thermal variances
- Quasi-stellar material
Each sensor pallet (fifty in all) can be interchanged and re-calibrated with any other pallet on the ship. The storage of additional is handled in the secondary shuttlebay, where adjustments and repairs can be made. Modified shuttlepods are used to remove and attach sensor pallets throughout the ship's hull. Additional sensor pallets are located on both the dorsal and ventral portions of the ship, allowing for greater coverage in the Z+ and Z- ranges.
Warp Current sensor: This is an independent subspace graviton field-current scanner, allowing Sovereign-class vessels to track ships at high warp by locking onto the eddy currents from another ship's warp field. The main computer can then extrapolate from a database the probable size and class of the ship by comparing warp field output to known archetypes.
Tactical Sensors
There are fifty independent tactical sensors on Sovereign class. Each sensor automatically tracks and locks onto incoming hostile vessels and reports bearing, aspect, distance, and vulnerability percentage to the tactical station on the main bridge. Each tactical sensor is approximately 92% efficient against ECM, and can operate fairly well in particle flux nebulae (which has been hitherto impossible).
The suite of tactical sensors aboard the Sovereign class is the most technically advanced suite of tactical sensors found on a Starfleet vessel. With over fifty independent sensor arrays, backed by the processing power of her computer network, a Sovereign class can not only wage battle, but conduct and lead other Starfleet and Allied vessels in tactical engagements. A Sovereign-class vessel can track and maintain sensor locks on over 1000 threat and friendly vessels within its sensor envelopes. Further, the Sovereign class can process and collect tactical data at much greater ranges than any starship before her, thanks in part to the redundancy of the arrays, but also the computing power and efficiency of her sensor systems.