Air vs Air combat question

[Nethog]

I'm back playing SMAC after giving it a break for several years and am having a great first game. However I am confused how Miriam is able to attack my Interceptors that are away from base, using air units that do NOT have Air Superiority. I thought you could only attack air units in flight using units that have the Air Superiority special ability?

[Nethog]

Actually, I think it may be because an enemy air unit attacked one of my sea units and my Interceptor scrambled to defend my sea unit.