(UTN/UAS/ATIS) Microlaser Detection and Ranging

A standard military-grade active sensor technology. MLADAR essentially fires pulses of 'microlasers'; short wavelength, high intensity beams of amplified light and radiation towards a target, most often in a 'cone' pattern in an attempt to identify its physical characteristics by measuring the feedback on the emitter source for each beam. The technology is based on the principle of ranging lasers that have been use since the 20th century. Due to the nature of the way MLADAR functions, it is an 'Active' sensor technology, unlike the 'Passive' SDD; since the host vessel is actively emitting radiation and then listening to how said radiation behaves when it interacts with the object to be detected.

Most MLADAR 'scopes' use a tight-beam 'cone' pattern, which is most often deployed at short range, but still beyond most visual optic resolution, to identify physical characteristics of signatures already detected by Space Density Distortion sensors (since these detect mass only, not exact shape, composition, etc). Broad-beam MLADAR scopes are used to detect high-priority incoming threats with low mass signatures, such as ISBMs, anti-ship missiles, or mines. In such a system, the 'cone' rotates rapidly in a similar fashion to a rotating RADAR dish, mapping a 360 degree field of view around the vessel. MLADAR is a more directed approach than RADAR and SDD, and is used in conjunction with these technologies in order to provide a much higher detailed scan of the target, at the expense of giving away the location of the host vessel. As such, MLADAR is most often used for precise targeting in combat situations where the enemy is already aware.

Modern starship designs have employed hull construction and compositions intending to reduce or mitigate the feedback of bouncing microlaser radiation, and consequently, the resolution of the scan provided by the scanning ship. All ATIS Aquarian Imperial Navy warships have MLADAR-absorbent hull materials that work in a similar fashion to RADAR absorbent materials of stealth fighters starting to be deployed to counter early radar systems in the 20th century, on Earth.