I won't let mine auto-fire; I fire them myself. What I'm wondering is, how effective are they? Is there a certain number of ships that each shot disables and how long does the effect last once they've received their maximum research upgrade? The area of effect radius is pretty large.

why bother reducing an enemy's damage instead of just destroying the enemy? every resource point used to build nano jammers could also have been used to build ships that can attack invaders. this seems like an inefficient use of resources because it does not accomplish your own goals, it only (slightly) hampers your enemy's goals.

It has a very, very large range, and can effect more then one ship, that why. When has the Missile platform had that big of a range, and when has the bomber hit that many ships at the same time.

But the ideal is to buy time for help to come and attack the enemy fleet.

fleet supply isn't nearly as limited a quantity as you make it out to be. it is trivially easy to keep a reserve of unspent fleet supply on hand for the specific purpose of responding to attacks by building ships. you DO NOT need to have every single point of fleet supply used up in your main fleet.

keep in mind that you don't actually have to keep the ships built at all times. you will construct them using frigate factories on location when they are needed and they you will scuttle them when you're done with them and no longer under threat of attack. you can get a huge amount of work done with as little as 50 or 60 fleet supply.

and for your troubles, you've gained by far the most effective response to an attack, which is a custom made counter attack. you'll destroy or chase off attackers without having to recall your main fleet and take pressure off the enemy. additionally your large network of frigate factories distributed throughout your territory can be instantly re-purposed for offensive purposes when you need to press the attack on your enemy and supply a steady stream of reinforcements to the front.

the advantages of frigate factory defense are many and the disadvantages are nearly nonexistent. on the other hand no fixed defensive platform will ever do anything except suck up resources while merely delaying your enemy. you want to destroy his fleet, not delay it. you don't ever want to recall your main fleet for defense, thats called losing.

I did the same thing as you did Itharus, but changed after giving the Nao weapon Jammer a go, I just began to use it more and more. It reduces the same amount of damage as the Phasic Barrier, help protect planets, and does not turn off your Logistics buildings. It at it best against caps.