(Answered) Active Probes on DropShips

[Saklad5]

Page 106 of the fourth printing of Strategic Operations: Advanced Aerospace Rules says that units with an Active Probe apply a -2 modifier to Detection Checks. Page 204 of the sixth printing of TechManual says that DropShips may mount Active Probes (though since it doesn't include advanced rules, it goes on to specify that they only affect units on ground maps).

Large Craft normally cannot benefit from electronic warfare equipment intended for lighter units: indeed, the ECCM rules for Active Probes on page 99 of SO:AAR cannot be used by DropShips. This leads me to suspect this is an oversight rather than a deliberate inclusion, not least because that is a remarkably powerful effect for a mere 500 kilograms on a DropShip.

If it is, in fact, intended, I have a follow-up question: do the Detection Check modifiers for mounting an Active Probe and a Naval Comm-Scanner Suite stack? This applies to Small Craft as well.

[Saklad5]

As an example of why this is suspect, the Small Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (also on page 106) provides a smaller effect on Detection Rolls despite being as much as two hundred times heavier.

I'd have assumed that vehicular-scale Active Probes, like vehicular-scale ECM Suites, are dwarfed by the inherent capabilities of Large Craft, and therefore provide no additional benefit.

[Xotl]

This is intended.  However, no modifiers stack, with themselves or with each other.  I believe a note to such has been added to the most recent printing of SO:AAR.

[Saklad5]

You’re kidding. A Beagle Active Probe is supposed to have a larger effect than a Small Naval-Comm Scanner? That makes no sense to me, but if you say so…

[Xotl]

As I understand it, the range was considered the key factor, not the detection roll modifier.  Active probes have a paltry range.

[Saklad5]

Wouldn’t the range be the same as normal sensors, under these rules? The Active Probe just provides a target modifier.

[Xotl]

Understand that in this case I'm merely passing on a ruling from the aerospace group and am not an aero guy, so there's limited feedback I can give here, but as I understand it, in terms of detection chances the Small NCSS offers double range and Large NCSS triple range. 

The Probe is the only thing that can be mounted on fighters though, so it seems the intent was to give them something that lets them detect, but only at a short range.  If you are serious about building a recon DropShip, there's no reason you'd want an active probe over an NCSS.

[Saklad5]

The cost difference is astronomical, as are the tonnage and crew requirements. With this ruling, an Active Probe is something you’d put on every DropShip not meant for recon.

To put this into context, strategic-scale detection rules translate range to a difficulty penalty, so a bonus is functionally equivalent to enhanced range.