A good portion of your target detection depends on sonar, and it's a gradual process. Once you're close enough and pointing the sub the right way, you get a whiff of the contact, so to speak, a general indication of where they are. With time and some light maneuvering, the accuracy of that "solution" increases, narrowing down the location and eventually course and speed.
There's also the matter of target classification using the Signature panel: every vessel has a specific sonar signature, and you can help speed the classification comparing what you see on the panel to the catalog of signatures you have at your disposal.
Then there's the nuances of active sonar, and how detectable you are versus the selected contact (and viceversa). There's solid theory behind that, but it can be sort of learned on the go and reading around a bit.
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