Sub Armaments

X-COM flying subs would be useless if they had no means of neutralising enemy Alien Subs. 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:

• Craft Gas Cannon
• AJAX
• D.U.P. Head

The weapons that can be manufactured after you have researched them are:

• Gauss Cannon
• Sonic Oscillator
• P.W.T. Cannon

Quick Comparison Table

Armament	Max Damage (Dm)	Range (km) (R)	Accuracy (A)	Official Reload Time (gs) (RTo)	Actual Reload Time (gs) (RTa)	Shots	Official Firepower (D×A/RTo)	Actual Firepower (D×A/RTa)	Payload (Da×S×A)
Craft Gas Cannon	15	8	25%	3	3	200	0.94	0.94	562.5
AJAX Cau	60	32	70%	17	48	6	1.85	0.66	189
AJAX Std	60	32	70%	17	36	6	1.85	0.88	189
AJAX Agg	60	32	70%	17	24	6	1.85	1.31	189
D.U.P. Head Cau	110	50	80%	21	72	3	3.14	0.92	198
D.U.P. Head Std	110	50	80%	21	54	3	3.14	1.22	198
D.U.P. Head Agg	110	50	80%	21	36	3	3.14	1.83	198
Gauss Cannon	90	20	35%	4	18	50	5.91	1.31	1181.25
Sonic Oscillator	150	55	50%	5	18	100	11.25	3.13	5625
P.W.T. Cannon Cau	200	60	100%	28	48	2	5.36	3.13	300
P.W.T. Cannon Std	200	60	100%	28	36	2	5.36	4.17	300
P.W.T. Cannon Agg	200	60	100%	28	24	2	5.36	6.25	300

As a general guide to the available weapons, 75km is the standoff range you first get the dogfight screen. 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. Alien Subs for advice on which armaments to use against which Alien Subs.

Note that the Official Reload Times are incorrect. This is despite the fact that the Official values appear at points in the executable code, as well as in the in game UFOPedia. The 'Actual' values above have been verified by research, and also match the 'Actual' values in UFO Enemy Unknown.

Effect Of Target Size

The hit probability formula is normalised for Medium UFOs/USOs. Accuracy is lower than normal against Small craft and higher than normal for Large and even higher for Very Large craft. But because actual hit probability can't exceed 100%, there will be a relative firepower & payload advantage (compared to what is stated above) conveyed to inaccurate weapons vs larger targets. So against larger targets, lower base-accuracy weapons (eg cannons) will be more effective, relative to higher base-accuracy weapons (eg missiles), than is shown above. For smaller targets the linear relationships should still hold so the relationships above will be valid, although the absolute rates of firepower and of payload will be lower.