ADS in Elite Dangerous on-foot weapons stands for Aim Down Sights. It refers to aiming through the weapon’s sights instead of firing from the hip, and in game terms it’s tied to how quickly you can transition into that focused aim state.

Why it matters

  • A weapon stat or upgrade that “improves ADS functionality” usually means faster time to aim down sights.
  • On-foot gameplay uses the same familiar FPS term, even though Elite Dangerous also used “ADS” in older ship-scanning contexts years ago.

Simple example

If a weapon has better ADS handling, you should be able to raise it and line up a shot faster after moving or swapping weapons.

TL;DR: ADS = Aim Down Sights.