Strike Teams - why they matter

I've been playing with the iPhone app and focused on the one function you can perform effectively with it off line, Strike Teams.  I suspect most people are ignoring them right now, while focusing on playing matches.  This is a mistake...

Why they matter: Strike Teams are one of the few ways (only way?) to get Mission Funds.  You need Mission Funds to buy gear and respecs, and the time available to buy specific gear is limited.  For example, right now there is a Juggernaut Shield available for 120 MF.  This is only available for the next 13 days, after that who knows if it will be available again.

How to use them: You start with one strike team.  There are 8 missions available to start, and the missions also expire after a period of time.  However, new missions will become available, so there will be new missions available, up to 8, over time.  There are Bronze, Silver, and Gold missions, with corresponding difficulties.  You can also buy additional Strike Teams with Mission Funds.  Strike Teams can be assigned to a mission, they will have a percentage chance of success, and they will execute the mission over a period of time, anywhere from about 1 hour to 6 hours.  When the mission is over they have either succeeded or failed.

Success: If they succeed you will get Mission Funds.  For a Bronze mission you will get 5, for a Bronze Apex mission you will get 10.  The Strike Team will also level up, which makes them more effective in the next mission.  They may also receive a perk, which will give a bonus in specific circumstances on future missions.

Failure: It doesn't appear that they can die, but they can receive a flaw (penalty).  This flaw will make certain missions harder in the future.  For example one of my teams now has a negative modifier against Outlaws, making missions against them slightly less likely to succeed.  However, you can also pick up a perk (I just got Lucky(5) on a failure) and will still get experience.  You can also repeat a mission, trying again.  There is a ring around the mission that fills up over time as you attempt the mission.  I don't know what this ring means yet (but I will find out in 5 hours).  This ring is just a status indicator of how far along the mission is, however there can be some UI artifacts on the phone where the ring will not clear once the mission has completed.

Strike Team Gear: You can also spend Mission Funds to buy gear for your Strike Teams to make them more effective.  I don't know if these are permanent, but given the cost (40+ MF) I assume that they are.

Recommendations:  I used my initial Mission Funds to buy a second Strike Team.  You can run Strike Team missions at all times, even while you are playing the game, doing other things.  By keeping Strike Teams constantly engaged, you can build up the Mission Funds you will need for gear.  There are also SP benefits (but really, who cares?).

Edit: Adding some information about strike team gear.  Every strike team can have one piece of gear that is permanently attached to them.  These items are pretty expensive (up to 300 MF).  If you buy a new piece, it will replace and destroy the old piece.  This gear comes in two types, items that generally improve effectiveness, and items that improve them in specific situations.  For example, Black Widows will give a team +9 effectiveness in all missions, but Quick Response Vehicle IV will give +20 effectiveness in hostage rescue missions.  Note that general effectiveness gear costs more, so Black Widows cost 225 MF, but the QRV only 150.  My opinion is that it is more cost effective to buy an item like a QRV and use that team for specific high difficulty missions.