Sensor jammer

For other uses, see Jammer.

A stormtrooper operating a sensor jammer

A sensor jammer was a type of device capable of fooling or blocking sensors.^[1] A sensor jammer created static, random signals, or false responses in order to conceal one's exact position from enemy sensors. Sensor jammers were also capable of blocking communication signals. At the same time, the amount of energy broadcast by a sensor jammer would alert the enemy to its general location. Special electronic countermeasure packages could be used to help expand and scatter the jamming signal to make locating the source of the signal more difficult.^[2]

All combat craft were equipped with some form of sensor jammer in order to defeat an enemy's targeting computer. The more sophisticated a targeting computer however, the quicker it would be able to achieve a "target lock."^[3] The targeting computers used by Imperial TIE fighters for example were superior to their Rebel counterparts.^[3]^[4]

The size and power behind a sensor jammer determined the strength of the jamming signal and the affected area. For example, the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor's 4X-Phantom short-range sensor jammer could jam the sensors and communications of other starfighters, but the sensors carried by larger capital ships would be able to burn through the jamming signal.^[3] An Imperial-class Star Destroyer meanwhile could broadcast a jamming signal powerful enough to block out all scanner and communication channels, forcing their opponents to rely on visual sensors and communications.^[5]