Interception

The blue circle around a base indicates its radar range. If a UFO flies over a base's radar range it will be detected and can be attacked using interceptors. Interceptor squadrons have a very small radar range themselves. If an UFO flies beyond base radar range the interceptor squadron will have the option to head to the UFO's last known position in hopes of finding it again.

Shooting down a UFO will prevent it from causing Panic in the local region. In addition, if an UFO is shot down over land it will enable a Crashed UFO mission that allows recovering valuable alien technology. Once a squadron reaches an UFO it will bring the following options:

Commence Attack: Starts an air battle between the interceptors and the UFO.
Tail Target: Interceptors will follow the UFO until they run out of fuel and can attack at any point.
Tail Until Over Land: Interceptors will follow the UFO until it travels over land and then re-engage the UFO.
Autoresolve Attack: Automatically resolves the air battle between the interceptors and the UFO. If the outcome is not desired the battle can be tried again as a regular air battle. This option is only available if the Allow Autoresolve Air Combat option was selected in the campaign options.

Air combat

Air combat takes place in real-time. Interceptors can execute the following maneuvers.

Evasive Roll: Interceptor attempts to dodge incoming weapons fire. Certain weapons prevent the interceptor from rolling.
Afterburners: Increases movement speed but disables weapons and evasive rolls.
Retreat: Interceptor flies away from the UFO until 3 in-game seconds have passed, ending the encounter.

Interceptors equipped with missiles or torpedos will display each missile beneath their portrait until they are deployed. By clicking one of these missiles, you can force the aircraft to hold fire on these missiles until re-enabled. This can be useful for ammo conservation, or for staggering the launch of missiles to reduce the risk of an enemy UFO evading an entire missile volley.

Losing Aircraft

If an interceptor reaches 0 health during an encounter, it is immediately forced to disengage and return to base. Afterwards it will need to be "overhauled" before being airworthy again. This takes 9 days, but is free of charge. If you wish, you can reduce the remaining repair time to 24 hours for a fee of $75,000.

Interceptors

Interceptor	Health	Armor	Speed [km/h] (improved)	Acceleration [m/s²]	Turn Rate [deg/sec]	Range [km] (improved)	Hardpoints	Upkeep	Cost
X-25 Angel	100	0	2,160 (3,300)	0.25	60	10,275 (15,705)	11 Payload 4x Weapon 1x Equip	$100,000	$500,000
X-55 Phantom	150	5	3,600 (4,500)	0.35	90	21,420 (26,775)	13 Payload 4x Weapon 1x Equip	$150,000	$750,000 20 Alenium 30 Alien Alloys
X-120 Gemini	200	15	4,800	0.5	100	33,330	16 Payload 4x Weapon 2x Equip	$200,000	$1,200,000 30 Alenium 45 Alien Alloys

Weapons

Each cannon or lance occupies 2 weapon hardpoint slots, each missile or torpedo 1 slot.

Cannons and Lances

Weapon	Damage	Armor Destr	Armor Pen	Reload Time [sec]	Range	Fire Arc	Ammo	Weight	Required research project
Autocannon	4	0.5	1	0.25	3	20	200	5
Accelerated Cannon	6	1	5						Alien Magnetic Weapons
Gauss Blaster	10	1.5	10						Heavy Gauss Weaponry
Laser Lance	12 - 18	3	0	1	6	12	100	6	Heavy Lasers
Fusion Lance	35 - 45	8		1					Heavy Fusion Weaponry

Missiles and Torpedos

Weapon	Damage	Armor Destr	Armor Pen	Speed	Turn Rate [m/s]	Reload Time [sec]	Range	Fire Arc	Ammo	Weight	Required research project
Sidewinder Missile	15 - 25	1	0	3	180	3	12	75	2	2	Aerial Warfare
Alenium Missile	24 - 32	2									Alenium Explosives
Fusion Missile	35 - 45	3									Fusion Explosives
Skylance Torpedo	35 - 55	5 - 15	15	4	7.5	1	12	75	1	4	Aerial Warfare
Alenium Torpedo	60 - 76	15 - 25	25								Alenium Explosives
Fusion Torpedo	82 - 100	30 - 40	35								Fusion Explosives