If you are wondering how the hell does VE's Barb family even manage to sense targets in a small form factor(especially the EL versions which manage to pack a robust set of sensors in a small package), here you go. Also note that this is more of a showcase on how VE's stuff tends to be components everywhere and why GDI is worried about infiltration by hostile elements. After all, when a significant portion of the high tech components that all of your high end hardware is concentrated in a small set of very closely linked companies, you want to prevent any infiltration of said company. Unless you don't mind having said hardware sabotaged …
A excerpt in some advanced sensors tech sales whitepaper from VE....
A common issue for hyperspectral imagers is the need for multiple individual imagers which complement each other in wavelength coverage. This drastically increases the bulk and complexity of such imaging systems, creating a more expensive system overall. Our patented process allows us to easily implement a wide variety of sensor substrates from conventional silicon based substrates to more exotic ones like HgCdTe, InGaAs, and others. At the same time, there may be needs to rapidly increase the apparent resolution of the raw data in selected wavelengths. Combining multiple disparate substrates onto a single focal plane array without any defects is a incredibly difficult process, let alone also successfully integrating variable filters per each sensor cell. Our method uses tricks from many disparate manufacturing processes such as lithography and CVD to successfully integrate disparate sensor cells into a single FPA without any crossover or bleedover effects let alone defects in the final product. Choose us for your single hyperspectral sensor needs. We have prebuilt mass manufactured sensor systems and are willing to custom make one for your exacting needs. Choose Vanguard.
Another sales whitepaper...
What is our secret sauce in achieving high yield rates of no defect single element wide tunable hyperspectral sensors?
There are four components to our success:
- Our ability to mix and match arbitrary sensor substrates with disparate characteristics in a single array.
- Our advanced optical systems which help prevent cross activation and allow for arbitrary cell tuning.
- Our ability to integrate a wide variety of additional capabilities to decreases sensor noise such as in chip cooling via built in nano-channels.
- And mot importantly , the ability to combine all of the above three cheaply and with extremely low defect rates.
This is why we are the industry leader in advanced sensor technologies.
Another one in advanced radars systems....
Most advanced AESA antennae arrays on the market use monolithic antennae element designs. Only a few use a couple of antennae designs in their array designs. Only Vanguard EM has advanced AESA arrays that can make use of a wide variety of antennae elements and get such a array to work without interference. The ability allows for better tailoring of the array to your needs. If you need an AESA array with specialized frequency emission and response traits and can not tolerate excess in your design, we can help. Our expertise in designing such arrays allows us to tackle the various issues in the design of such arrays. We have solved may issues like crosstalk and handling signal processing for both emission and reception. Choose us for your bespoke, high end AESA needs. Choose Vanguard.
Yeah, no wonder the Barb family has the ability to easily acquire targets. The 25% figure is only that low due to the issues of extremely high amounts of hyperspectral smoke, ludicrous jamming and blinding attempts, and a lot of active(eg shoot the missile) defenses that are assumed to be involved in the opponent's countermeasures(eg. best case for the opponent/worst case scenario). Of course, user training is still key. Firing a long ranged one and not loading a good countermeasures profile on the target while telling the missile to only try using method that are easily jammed and counterdetected with poor target coordinates will not grant a kill, even with the advanced systems on said missile.
PS: it turns out that while Vanguard does have a awful lot of high end technologies(due to their ability to manufacture things that other have difficulties or declare impossible to mass produce), such systems can be fairly expensive to someone who only needs so much in their components. Still, the need for high end components do give Vanguard a steady stream of profit. Only if they could expand onto the market as a manufacture of end user products(like APCs) and not be relegated to component manufacturing....
*HINT HINT*
--Seriously though, if VE's stuff gets used successfully in the invasion, they will get a bunch of orders from GDI and will remember Willaims
Oh, and some people really want their hands on Vanguard's ability to mass manufacture such components. I know that Future Tech hates having to get their single FPA hyperspectral sensors from Vanguard and would love to be able to make them reliably in house(Some execs hate having to pay ("What do you mean we can't build that? We're FutureTech for fucks sake."-A middle manglemant in FutureTech to scientists) for high end stuff from external sources even when it is at lower prices than what would be expected(eg pricing stuff high due to monopoly)).
*MORE HINTS*
--READ: Expect corporate espionage. If that happens, expect the tech being leaked to unsavory elements due to the others not being able to keep tight compartmentalization. There is a reason why Vanguard is so dispersed across a variety of companies after all...
). The colony is still pretty new, but at some point we have to think about the more advanced civilian infrastructure needs if this is to be a settlement where humans live and work with their families. 
