OK, seriously folks. . .
Actually, although I love the buffs, I'm forced to say that at the moment it's actually really easy to shoot them down. It's supposed to be the case that if you are in the lead ship and are shot down, you can jump to one of the other ships. Doesn't work out like that, however, and in retrospect, it's easy to see why. As soon as the lead ship is taken out and begins to dive, spin, whatsoever, the drones try to follow suit, and they don't recover. I was in a lead buff that was hit, and as soon as I got into the second buff, I found that it was in a steep dive--just as the wings ripped off.
And that's also how I've shot down buffs. Aim for the leader, and its likely you get a three pack.