Re: FT III: ECM. from originator

First, let me tell you all what a pleasure it is to be part of this
list!!

I have seen too many situations where people jump down each others
throats
right away or respond with such carelessness that actual discussion and
creative thought is non-existant.

Looking back at my original ECM comments, these were my thoughts while
looking
at FT with a certain frame of mind.  No one blasted me, told me how
stoooopid,
etc. I was being ...  Thank you one and all!!

Okay, at the time I was seeing FT through the eyes of a level of
technology
akin to something in Star Trek: Next Generation.  You know, where one
quick
swipe of a medical tricorder and they can figure-out what your
great-great-great cousin ate for breakfast on her 3497th day of life.

However, it was in the responses to my post that I was brought "back to
earth".  Three of my favorite videos are Predator, Classic Star Trek
episode
with the Romulans, and Hunt For Red October.  [do you see a pattern
here?]

So, in regards to ECM in Full Thrust,  would it be safe to say that we
are
talking about the ability to detect the presence of another ship, ID
that ship
as an enemy and to be able to fire weapons that will hit it ...

versus the ability to prevent detection, identification and/or weapons'
lock?

Questions:

1]	Will activity [like combat] on the part of a ship increase its 
vulnerability to being targeted?

2]	Can fighters act as "forward observers" and "paint" targets or
at
least perform recon that will aid the fleet?

3]	How about weapons packages that contain transponders,
scramblers, and
other thingies that will act a "bell around the cat's neck"?

4]	[My 11 year old daughter came up with this] How about
"whiskers"?
	Unmanned probes that are released once a ship enters normal
space.	They would range far and wide gathering and transmitting data
that
warns ships of dangers, hazards, etc.  These could also be used in
military
roles ranging from recon to decoys.

Thanks for the space.

John M. Huber