That's a trap Early on the gains are negligible and the 50 scrap is better spend on shields/engines. Later on in the game the gains will become noticeable, but the item still needs at least one sector full of fighting to pay for itself (at least 275 scrap), neverming any profits. Fighting which might have a hard time winning. Granted, the asteroid field blue option for ~30 scrap is nice - if you get it. And good luck getting rid of it before the last bossight, where it is useless. I don't even remember the last time I bought it - there are so many better augments to go with (long range sensors, shield recharge boosters, reverse ion field (so OP), drone recovery arm for heavy drone ships...) EDIT: ^That's meant for hard difficulty. Scrap is hard to come by there and enemies are powerful, hence the "what good is scrap if I'm dead" mindset. On normal and easy it could very well be profitable to buy the scrap recovery arm. Long range sensors are a godsend, sure. But avoiding conflicts is not going to win you the game - the worst thing that can happen to you, progress wise, is jumping to an empty beacon. That and 6 man zoltan boarding parties. And pulsars. Pulsars suck (which is why I love long range sensors).