Spam Broadswords, then manually fire volleys of finisher missiles or torpedos... Watch as anything gets vaporized with no real counter play.
Shields, interceptors, actual non-PD guns that shoot down the Broadswords. If you're in the carrier in question: which carrier is going to 1) carry that much missile firepower and 2) be able to get in position to use it? The only one that comes to mind at all is the Astral, but it'll have problems getting in position, and 4 Reapers (from Cyclones) is... well, it's pretty good. But most of that is still going to hit shields, some of it may still get shot down, etc. Getting 1-2 Reapers through seems hardly worth giving up the torpedoes bombers would fire.
If it's another ship, like the Gryphon - it'd need to coordinate with a nearby carrier, so right off the bat that's less reliable, but also, I think, pretty cool if you get it to work. And, multiple ships cooperating like this is a good thing, isn't it?
Something like the Mora, if you put 3 Broadswords and 2 Tyhpoons on it, that's really dedicating to the strategy. And... well, let me actually try this out vs a Dominator and see how it goes, since that is rather interesting.
<some time later>
It works well, but it doesn't actually require Broadswords. Other fighters also work with varying degrees of success - it's really just a matter of timing the torpedo launch so they come in right after the fighters absorb the first flak shots. Not very hard. The Broadswords do well here because they do some kinetic damage to shields, helping build up flux. In fact, removing the pd jammer hullmod for a test fight didn't make much difference at all. The jammer really comes in handy with torpedo bombers, where the timing of the launch isn't under your control, so more leeway is needed.
In the end, it seems like you'd be giving up a fair amount to make this work, and the window of opportunity would be just that - a window. So this seems more like a neat new tactic that's an option (going with the whole "fighters are bad on their own, but combine with other things well" concept), rather than something overpowered that will dominate. And it doesn't seem dependent on the PD jammer all that much, anyway, but more on timing. The jammer certainly helps though, makes the timing more forgiving.
Side note: the Broadswords are pretty nerfed compared to how their are now. They *only* have the LMGs, and enough flux for 3 volleys before their firepower drops to a third of maximum.
Edit: tried the Mora vs an Aurora; less success here because the shields are too strong. Definitely not a one-size-fits all solution. I should add, I think what you're bringing up is a good thing to look at and a potential issue - but due to the specific numbers and nitty-gritty details, my feeling is it shapes up more into "feature" than "problem".
My suggestion for the Tempest: swap the terminator drone to a built-in "Terminator Drone LPC"... and don't give the ship a replacement system. That's actually a thing I miss from earlier versions of Starsector: ships that just were what they were, no fancy bells or whistles. I'd love, for example, a Hyperion (D) that gave up the teleporter in exchange for a lower deployment cost.
Realized I never responded here. A (D) ship like that might work, but for a non-(D) ship, I think that might feel "unfinished" to the player.
Hmm. High energy focus might be nice on the Tempest, actually.
PS: "Orhpans made" stat of Nexerelin a really hard slap or realism >.>
Yeah, not a fan of those kinds of stats for that reason. Have fun roleplaying a mass murderer! It's like /played in MMOs, just makes you feel bad.