EDIT: please note that with further testing, distance (other than very close) and viewing through optics is not really a factor. In the case of the screenshot below, the factor was whether or not the ship had been damaged.
This is especially (perhaps exclusively) a problem with ships, particularly when view at a distance through optics. Certain areas of the ships have areas of black flickering across them. You can see a bit of this black flickering/flashing in the screen below, but of course it does not really convey the effect in a still image.
I'm pretty sure this is not a problem new to 1.2. I cannot find a relation to any in-game settings. Any ideas if a card setting might be causing this.
I have a pair of 6800 Ultras with latest drivers (although I am running the game on a single GPU as I lose FPS with SLI). 1280x960 w/ 2X AA