General Information[]
HORNET mines are used extensively by the United Nations Space Command and the Office of Naval Intelligence. In the former, they are simply used to create an 'invisible fence' around a section of space the UNSC wishes to keep secret or root out troublesome pirates. In the latter, they are issued to Prowler teams to be used in a more aggressive fashion - deploying them in advance of incoming enemy fleets and hoping to destroy them or at least whittle down their numbers.
Tactics[]
As UNSC[]
Make use of these mines as early as possible in the game, they are a very good defensive option against any enemy fleet that is trying to assault one of your planets. However, do not go overkill with these Mines, as they do cost a quite a small fortune to produce. Couple these with your Orbital Defense Stations so they are not made short work of by Corvettes that are quick moving.
As they are only produced from the Sahara-class Prowler, they are vital in terms of asymmetrical actions. Their sensor package can light up enemy systems, useful for planning for invasions. When deploying mines in a hostile system and there are either hangars, Super MACs or an enemy fleet, sent in a small battlegroup to distract the enemy defenses long enough for the mines to arm and cloak.
As Covenant[]
For most cases, the best way to deal with mines the UNSC has set up is to send in a Missionary-class to sweep it; set it to auto-attack so it can use its decloak mine ability and destroy it safely.
If the UNSC used them in addition to orbital defenses, a massive number of Missionary-classes along with some carriers should suffice; while the missionaries clear the mines, the strikecraft can damage and clear away the Super MACs for the main fleet. You'll take losses with the missionaries, but they are cheap and easy to replace.
See Also[]