Do Drones / Fighters issued "Protect..." command shoot down missiles?

[soulmata]

I am curious to know if drones or fighters issued a "Protect..." command for a target will shoot down missiles coming for that target.

More specifically, I'm on a particular plot mission where I have to escort a convoy, and I've been having difficulty on account of M8s hurling missiles at the convoys. I deployed lasertowers, but I realized too late lasertowers only seem to shoot down missiles coming at themselves. MDM works well enough, but I can't make NPCs turn MDM on.

So, I'm thinking of assembling a fleet of M4s, and telling them to protect the convoy, and/or deploying mass amounts of drones in waves to do the same. It would be more useful if said hardware would shoot down incoming missiles aimed at the NPC ships, rather than just themselves.

I also tried MDM (C), but MDM (C) seems to only apply to green ships, not NPC ships.

[Nanook]

I am curious to know if drones or fighters issued a "Protect..." command for a target will shoot down missiles coming for that target.

No. They'll only target the ships that fired the missiles. Your best choice here is to eliminate the M8's as quickly as possible. Concentrate on those yourself and let your other assets deal with the other attackers. Probably the easiest way for you to do that is with an M7M loaded with flail missiles.