A deployable airborne sensor array system comprising: a tether configured to be coupled to and deployed from an aircraft ; a plurality of airborne vehicles coupled to said tether, each of said plurality of airborne vehicles having different lift characteristics to form a three-dimensional array of airborne vehicles , each airborne vehicle comprising a sensor device configured to generate sensor data associated with a target; and a computing device configured to: process the sensor data received from each of said plurality of airborne vehicles ; and generate an image of the target based on the sensor data, wherein said different lift characteristics include either unbalanced wings on at least first and second airborne vehicles or a biasing rudder that cause the first and second airborne vehicles to respectively glide to the left and to the right of the aircraft , and further include either a positive lift profile and negative lift profile on at least third and fourth airborne vehicles or elevators biased at different angles relative to the horizontal that cause the third and fourth airborne vehicles to respectively glide above and below the aircraft , such that the plurality of airborne vehicles establish a three-dimensional array of sensors operating coherently to capture a three-dimensional view of the target at an instant in time. a tether configured to be coupled to and deployed from an aircraft ; a plurality of airborne vehicles coupled to said tether, each of said plurality of airborne vehicles having different lift characteristics to form a three-dimensional array of airborne vehicles , each airborne vehicle comprising a sensor device configured to generate sensor data associated with a target; and a computing device configured to: process the sensor data received from each of said plurality of airborne vehicles ; and generate an image of the target based on the sensor data, wherein said different lift characteristics include either unbalanced wings on at least first and second airborne vehicles or a biasing rudder that cause the first and second airborne vehicles to respectively glide to the left and to the right of the aircraft , and further include either a positive lift profile and negative lift profile on at least third and fourth airborne vehicles or elevators biased at different angles relative to the horizontal that cause the third and fourth airborne vehicles to respectively glide above and below the aircraft , such that the plurality of airborne vehicles establish a three-dimensional array of sensors operating coherently to capture a three-dimensional view of the target at an instant in time. process the sensor data received from each of said plurality of airborne vehicles ; and generate an image of the target based on the sensor data, wherein said different lift characteristics include either unbalanced wings on at least first and second airborne vehicles or a biasing rudder that cause the first and second airborne vehicles to respectively glide to the left and to the right of the aircraft , and further include either a positive lift profile and negative lift profile on at least third and fourth airborne vehicles or elevators biased at different angles relative to the horizontal that cause the third and fourth airborne vehicles to respectively glide above and below the aircraft , such that the plurality of airborne vehicles establish a three-dimensional array of sensors operating coherently to capture a three-dimensional view of the target at an instant in time. <EOS>