in theory, small and large fighters should be nearly equal
meaning a 10 small fighter fleet will cost the same and be as effective as a 3 large fighter fleet
large fighters have one big advantage over small ones. lets say there are two fleets of equal strength, one of 10 small, one of 3 large
lets say the small ones win (because they attack) by one shot, so 9 of the small ones die and all large ones
the guy that built small fighters now has only 1/10 of his fleet left (after repairs)
lets say the large ones win (this time they attack) by one shot, so 10 small ones die and 2 large ones
the guy that built large fighters now has 1/3 of his fleet left (if he managed to get to damaged ship out of combat and repaired)
so large vessels always have an advantage over small ones - and it should be like that, you have to research quite expensive techs to get to large vessels
this survivel advantage alone is in my optinion enough to justify the cost for large hulls
but there are several more advantages:
with logistics costs as they are and defense system as is, a fleet of many small will never be as strong as a fleet of few large ships - this has been improves in the latest patch but imho is still an issue
and the real, big, very very bad disadvantage for small fighters (and thats why i never build them):
engines !
in a large ship, you can put 2-3 engines AND a lot of weapons
try to but 2-3 engines into a small ship and its full, no more room for weapons
in a 3large fleet there may be 2 engines each ship, so the whole fleet uses the cargo space of 6 engines to go very fast
in a fleet of 10 small ships, each needs to have 2 engines to be as fast as the large ones, so the whole fleet is using cargo space for 20 engines
the fleet containing large vessels can use the difference of cargo space for 14 (!!!) engines to mount weapons / armor
its either lack firepower or lack speed for smaller vessels
any ideas how to play around that? i just use the largest hull available and dont bother with anything smaller ever again (which i find quite sad, i'd prefere to have swarms of small fighters)
