Large Radar System
General Information
The first Large Radar built puts one unit in your bases "Long Range Detection" meter, and helps with UFO Detection. Further Large Radars also add to the meter, but do not increase the detection rate.
Every thirty minutes game time, each Large Radar has a 20% chance of detecting a UFO within an approximate 2000-2300 mile radius (this may also vary based on UFO size), and can track existing contacts up to an approximate 3000 mile radius. If you advance the time an hour or day at a time, it will make multiple checks and interrupt if a UFO is detected, setting the time to be at whatever point the detection happened (even if it is only five seconds after the last update).
Whether these chances are affected by the size of the UFO is unknown, the UFOpaedia suggest that it does play a part, but the description text is wrong about all the other details.
You cannot gain increased detection by building more Large Radar facilities at the same base, but you can add a single Small Radar System to boost your total detection rate from the base to 30% at short range and 20% at long range. Any more radars of either type have no game effect, except on the detection meters on the Base Information page. Both types of Radar become redundant once a Hyper-wave Decoder has been installed at a base.
This base facility appears in UFO: Enemy Unknown. For the Terror from the Deep equivalent, refer to the Wide Array Sonar.
Statistics
Construction Time: 25 days
Construction Cost: $800,000
Maintenance Cost: $15,000/month
Detection Abilities:
Short: +20
Long: +20
Hyperwave: 0
The above detection abilities are one-time-bonuses per base. The base detection values are recalculated every time a new building is completed on a base.
