Howdy witpqs,ORIGINAL: witpqs
If the original manual is correct, it might have been included in the code that derives a ships detectability level (I might have misremembered the exact terminology the manual used). Supposedly, detection level is used by the code to modify how successful attacks will be (in addition to how hard/easy it is to detect a ship at all).
Game has evolved over the years and what with this patch & that patch, it's not surprising that the manual isn't exactly in tune with what's up today. I've seen lots of commented out sections, even whole blocks. It's still evolving. There's a pretty chunky section that's being adapted even as we speak.
John



