I asked on #hard-light and apparently nothing has been done about this, and according to The E nothing should be done about this, but...
In the mission "Speaking in Tongues", right at the start any wingman says "Command, we have hostiles on radar, but we cannot acquire a target."; there are Shivan fighters 2600m away which show as faint noisy blips on the radar and cannot be targeted. Nonetheless, if you gave them Maxims, your wingmen are already firing at those fighters.
This has always been an immersion breaker for me. It's clearly an oversight on the mission designer's part, that they would shoot at something they can't see or target while talking about how it's still too far away to see or target.
The reason The E gave for not changing it is that it's "gameplay", and FSU's prime directive is "don't change gameplay". I contend that because of the range involved, and the fact that the targets are fighters and therefore a) shielded and b) fast and maneuverable, the only effect that maxim barrage could have had is getting those fighters to "wake up" a little earlier, if they aren't already heading for the player at mission start.
I don't think changing it would have much effect on how the mission progresses, if any.