Reputation. Kicking out strong arms

[piranhai aka Dragonslayer]

So currently I managed to have good relationship with:

Argon
Boron
Paranid
Split
Teladi
Terrans

OTAS
Terra Corp

Now Enemies are:
Pirat
Yaki
Ateus
Dukes
Strongarms


What really is a trouble with this combination is the strong arms. They seem to fly in every Paranid, Teladi or Split sector with a huge group of fighters who attach on sight.
Worst of all I cannot fight back because then my Split reputation drops.

Is it possible to replace Strongarms with OTAS or Terra Corp in this constellation? With other group like hostile Duke or Atreus there is no issue since they only send transporters.
But Strong Arms patrols seem to even scale with rank. Lately one weapon transport ship is accompanied by 10+ guards.

So can I replace with OTAS or Terra Corp or should I say f*** i* to Split to at least be able to fight back these crazy strong arms?

[Novvak]

It is possible, take a look at the screenshot of my reputation:

https://ibb.co/TYgVcBV

I used to have excellent reputation with Atreus as well but for some reason it dropped significantly (even though I have them set as Friends and never commited any acts of aggression towards them).
Aside from that, it is possible to be happy with main races.

[piranhai aka Dragonslayer]

It is possible, take a look at the screenshot of my reputation:

https://ibb.co/TYgVcBV

I used to have excellent reputation with Atreus as well but for some reason it dropped significantly (even though I have them set as Friends and never commited any acts of aggression towards them).
Aside from that, it is possible to be happy with main races.

Looks similar to mine. The only difference is you dropped OTAS and Terra Corp for StarkImArm. That shouldn't be a Problem. Terra Corp and OTAS they don't cause you trouble?

I feel like i'm sending agents forever to push the reps back and forward...

[Novvak]

They are not aggresive at all towards me, I have Adv Sat in every Argon sector and they are not even shooting these down.
I didn't have any situations where they would attack my UT's either. Overall, I'm technically at war with them but I don't really feel like I am.

[Hwitvlf]

I think Strong Arms M3s have their turrets set to 'attack enemies' so they'll pelt anything that gets near, but they don't actually pursue you unless your ship fires back. I've never had any corporation ship target me unless I shot at them.

Setting trader ship turrets to "missile only" and "behavior when attacked" to "Evade" should stop them from becoming aggressive if they're hit by stray turret fire. I set satellites away from the trade routes so they're out of turret range.

[phantomrock2]

make sure turrets are set to protect ship or missile defense

[atroces]

make sure turrets are set to protect ship or missile defense

Protect ship will fire back, which is not what you would want in this scenario...