Interdiction

Interdiction is a military term for the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area.

This can be done in a myriad of ways, generally involving forcing a ship to stop by using threats, firepower or a Quantum Enforcement Device (QED).

Quantum Enforcement Device

 * Quantum Snare: Creates a "bubble" around the ship. Any ship passing through will be knocked out of quantum travel, and unable to activate their drive until the Snare is turned off. Engaging the Quantum Snare requires significant charge-up time, and maintaining the snare requires a lot of power while generating large amounts of heat. This can only be done by the Mantis, which is a weak fighter, so support vessels might be needed to fight the target.


 * Quantum Dampening: Prevents the activation of quantum drives within a short range while active (approx. 2000m). Dampening can be activated instantly, trapping lone unwary ships as long as they are within its radius. There is little benefit to using it over the snare in the Mantis, except that it can be instantly engaged (the snare takes 30 seconds to charge).

NPC Interdiction
NPCs are capable of interdicting players, which spawns an asteroid cluster providing a playing field for the ambush to take place on, rather than simply being open space as would almost definitely be the case without this spawning mechanic.

Interdiction Ships
Several ships have been announced with a role of Interdiction or Interdictor, although all ships can technically be used for the task.