I'm enjoying the OP's continuing trend of 'noticing' things the rest of us noticed 4-5 years ago. If not earlier.
The mechanical arguments above are all good, and I won't recapitulate them, but having to hover within about 300 range of a ship to suppress shields isn't 'broken' - it's an invitation to get eaten alive. Flak, ACGs, Tac Lasers, Swarmers, and other anti-fighter weapons take a horrible toll on Broadswords. Fill an SO Lasher up with machine guns and see if it's a win button against cruisers, or not; it's certainly a threat, but it's not almighty.
A lot of your mechanical complaints seem to take the form of 'I don't want to have to take complex mechanics into account when I play. Why are the game's mechanics complex? I want simpler mechanics' and being annoyed that mastery of the game is difficult. Most of us think mastery of (as opposed to competence in) a game should be difficult; although I'd argue that it's not actually that difficult in Starsector, it's more difficult than finding a One True Perfect Build. Having some rock-paper-scissors, situational builds, hidden strengths and weaknesses, is part of why, I would venture to guess, most players are still playing this game. Arguing with core design goals of the game or a mod isn't likely to get you what you want.