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
Interceptors are used to attack UFOs. Up to 3 interceptors can be assigned on the same attack.
| Interceptor | Health | Armor | Speed (km/h) | Acceleration (m/s) | Turn Rate (deg/sec) | Range (km) | Hardpoints | Upkeep | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 X-25 Angel |
100 | 0 | 2160 | 0.02 | 60 | 2232 | 1 Cannon 2 Equipment |
$100,000 | $500,000 |
 X-55 Phantom |
150 | 5 | 3600 | 0.03 | 90 | 12000 | 2 Cannon | $80,000 | $500,000 40 Alien Alloys 25 Alenium |
Weapons
All interceptors have one cannon hardpoint and two equipment hardpoints. Cannon hardpoints can mount every weapon. Equipment hardpoints can only mount missile and torpedo weapons. Interceptors can be equipped with the following weapons:
| Weapon | Damage | Penetration (armor) | Destruction (armor) | Reload Time (sec) | Range | Fire Arc | Ammo | Evasive Roll | Required research project |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Autocannon
|
5 | 0 | -0.5 | 0.25 | 3 | 30 | 100 | Enabled | |
 Sidewinder Missile
|
25 | 0 | -1 | 0.25 | 20 | 90 | 1 | Enabled | |
 Skylance Torpedo
|
16 | 20 | -10 | 1 | 20 | 90 | 1 | Disabled | |
 Accelerated Cannon
|
7 | 1 | -0.5 | 0.25 | 3 | 20 | 100 | Enabled | Alien Magnetic Weapons |
 Laser Lance
|
15 | 0 | -4 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 99 | Disabled | Heavy Lasers |
 Alenium Missile
|
40 | 0 | -2 | 0.25 | 20 | 90 | 1 | Enabled | Alenium Explosives |
 Alenium Torpedo
|
25 | 25 | -15 | 1 | 20 | 90 | 1 | Disabled | Alenium Explosives |
 Gauss Blaster
|
15 | 1 | -3 | 0.25 | 3 | 20 | 100 | Enabled | Heavy Gauss Weaponry |
 Fusion Missile
|
60 | 0 | -3 | 0.25 | 20 | 90 | 1 | Enabled | Fusion Explosives |
 Fusion Torpedo
|
40 | 30 | -22 | 1 | 20 | 90 | 1 | Disabled | Fusion Explosives |
