Gladius is actually one of my favorite fighters, and I use a Drover equipped with two wings of them as frigate hunters - even at only two fighters in a wing, they're much better at getting the job done than Broadswords are, regardless of whether that job is killing fighters or frigates, or distracting larger ships from bomber attack runs. The extra IR Pulse Laser isn't great at punching through armor, but it's quite good enough for light targets, and the Gladius is just a lot better than a broadsword at actually getting its guns pointed at its target.