5 OP? The Wasp? They are good against things where they deploy their mine, and maybe against frigates too, but against bigger things, they are useless. 2 OP? You mean Talon? Yes, they are good, but they do not replace as easily as they used to and will die off rather quickly unless you go all into carrier skills.
Broadswords are turtles (for their cost). That, along with breaking shields, is the point of them. If I want fighters to kill bigger things, and you cannot spare more OP, and Thunders are too fragile, then Broadswords are the next best thing, and they are common.
If you think Broadswords are turtles, Claws take that up to eleven. Despite half fire rate from before, they still stunlock and kill things, but maybe not before your peak performance expires.
The Thunder is solid and great if you want to watch things flail around as they die, but there are better fighters if you just want something to die as fast as possible.
You need to spend more OP for such fighters. If you are limited to 8 OP fighters, Thunders is probably the best you can get at that price if you want those fighters to kill (bigger) things.
One fighter that has become a bit more useful thanks to more fragile fighters is the humble Mining Pod. If you carrier is a knife fighter (especially Odyssey) and cannot rely on expensive fighters to last, then Mining Drone is better than nothing, and they can distract a little.