Craft Armaments
Interception craft would be useless if they had no means of neutralising enemy aircraft. To this end, there are a number of craft armaments, or craft weapons, that you can be fit to interception craft for use in combat. Some of these weapons are immediately available to you to purchase, others have to be researched and manufactured in your workshops.
The weapons systems that can be purchased throughout the course of your conflict with the alien menace are:
The weapons that can be manufactured after you have researched them are:
Quick Comparison Table
| Armament | Damage | Range (km) | Accuracy | Reload Time | Shots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stingray | 70 | 30 | 70% | 64/48/32 | 6 |
| Avalanche | 100 | 60 | 80% | 96/72/48 | 3 |
| Cannon | 10 | 10 | 25% | 4 | 200 |
| Fusion Ball Launcher | 230 | 65 | 100% | 64/48/32 | 2 |
| Laser Cannon | 70 | 21 | 35% | 24 | 99 |
| Plasma Beam | 140 | 52 | 50% | 24 | 100 |
Reload times are given in frames (taken from the executable). Launched weapons have different reload times depending on attack mode; they are listed as Cautious/Standard/Aggressive (cannons have the same reload time in all modes).
Note that the accuracies and reload times in the in-game UFOpaedia are incorrect. These values are taken directly from the executable and verified by empirical measurement.
As a general guide to the available weapons, 70km is the standoff range when you first get the dogfight screen (the maximum range on the screen is 75km). If a weapon has close to 70km range the weapon will start firing soon after you press cautious attack, where weapons with around 30km range will require you to close in quite a lot. These ranges are also shown graphically on the interception screen.
See Weapons vs. UFOs for advice on which armaments to use against which UFOs. To summarise: Use Avalanche Missiles against Medium or smaller enemies and use 2 interceptors with Avalanche Missiles against Terror Ships, until you get Plasma Beams. Thereafter, stick to Plasma Beams. If attacking Battleships with Interceptors, use Fusion Ball Launchers if available, to reduce casualties.
