I do all my targeting with F selected targets to keep track of them in battle. I have some missile that obliterate the NPC pirates in a couple shots using explosives and high damage. I've been chasing the pirates across sector boundaries and been within a few hundred meters to the target. I see the missile hit them, no damage numbers and no change in the shields or armor values. They just shrug off the damage and I sigh, cross the sector border that I KNOW is there because of the usual sector border changing jiggery and launch another volley to see the damage and take the kill.