This paper evaluates how the distance between air defence sensors and the command and control (C2) element influences fire-control effectiveness. Three deployment variants at 1, 7 and 20 km were assessed by means of operational analysis and the TOPSIS multi-criteria method using latency, connection reliability, situational awareness (SA), probability of kill (𝑃𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙), survivability and logistical complexity. The baseline model favours the short-distance configuration, but sensitivity analysis shows that greater emphasis on survivability shifts the optimum towards the medium-distance variant. A separation of approximately 5-10 km provides the most robust operational compromise for contemporary air defence employment.