Hmm, I think it's fair. The frigate was without shields and got 2 nuclear bursts in its face at 0:31.
Those nuclear burst weapons do 500 damage a pop (with an impact of 500 as well, but I don't know if and how that would matter).
Since the Jet had a lot of other incoming fire it might just have been enough to be blown apart.
The Jet has 2000 hp, vanilla highest value for a frigate. It has 200 armour, vanilla frigate ranges are from 75 to 300. So it's not doing that shavvy.
Also, I think those ships you fought are destroyers. Not something a frigate would win on its own.
So I could increase its hp or armour, but then it will decimate other ships again.
About the second half:
Honestly, I don't know how damage is calculated when a ship blows up. After a few accidents of my own I always make sure to get my shields up, even if it would overload me. (Overloading is better than exploding! ^_^) Or I'd smash the backwards-button as hard as I can.
Other people's opinions?
@Silver Silence: Whoah, those are waaay too overpowered.
Little energy usage too.