Fighters are divided into four main groups: Light Fighters, Medium Fighters, Heavy Fighters and Bombers.

Light fighters have weak guns, shields and armor, BUT, have a great speed and maneuverability. These fighters are the most common fighters in almost every navy. They are usually used for: Escort, patrol, reconeissance, etc.

Medium Fighters have moderate shielding, guns and armor. These fighters are nicknamed "all-around fighters" because they fit almost every mission.

Heavy Fighters have powerful guns, shielding and armor, but not too good speed and maneuverability. These fighters are usually used for space-superiority use (destroying enemy fighters).

Bombers have the most powerful shielding and armor. They also carry a very large amount of missiles. The bombers have very poor speed, acceleration and maneuverabilty. Their single purpose is to deliver Torpedoes to enemy capital ship, and destroy them. Bombers have medium guns.

Well, these are the fighters that already exist (I'm explaining all of this, so it will be more easy for you to create new "heep-fighters") and they will surely appear in the stories:

Commercial Fighters:

Arrow - Light fighter. This fighter is the most common fighter in known space. You can virtually find it EVERYWHERE. Having so many Arrow fighters, it was clear that variations of this fighter will soon develop. Certain variations of the Arrow have cloaking capabilities (Disappearing... like the Klingon and Romulan ships do in Star Trek), and some of the variations have jump capiblities (Moving in "Hyperspace", where they can travel faster than light, and therefore move between star systems, like capital ships). The Arrow is a HUMAN ship, and it is NOT used by the Kilrathi. An Arrow has 2 Ion guns, 2 Laser guns (It's not that important, but it'll give a more "space" feeling to the story, if you'll write about what guns does the pilot use, etc.), and 8 missile slots.

Razor - Light Fighter. The Razor is the 2nd most common fighter in known space. It is mostly used by pirates, causing every "space-policeman" to follow a Razor fighter. Certain variations of the Razor have jump capabilities. The Razor has (like the Arrow) 2 Ion guns, 2 laser guns and 8 missile slots.

Confederation fighters:

Hellcat - Medium fighter. The Hellcat is a solid fighter, that is the baseline fighter in the Confederation Space Force. It was originally invented for attacking small enemy fleet ships. Despite it's age, the Hellcat is still proving to be useful in almost any kind of mission. It is a true "all-around fighter". The Hellcat has 2 particle guns, 1 Ion gun, and 6 missile slots.

Thunderbolt - The most common heavy fighter in the confederation navy. The T-Bolt has a VERY large firepower, but it is somehow lacked with maneuverability and speed. A T-Bolt, in a full-gun mode, can destroy a light/medium fighter in a few seconds. The Thunderbolt has 2 Photon Guns, 2 Meson Guns, 2 Plasma guns, 6 missile slots, and a torpedo slot.

Excalibur - Heavy Fighter. The Excalibur is nicknamed "The Fighter That Won The War". During the last days of the first Kilrathi war, it seemed that humanity is about to perrish. The Excalibur was popped out of the testing program, and was armed with the newly invented Temblor bomb. Piloted by the renowned Colonel Christopher Blair, the Excalibur was used for the destruction of Kilrah - The Kilrathi homeworld. The Excalibur is a uniqe (and VERY expensive) fighter - It has a superb maneuverability (almost as a light fighter), and a firepower better than almost any heavy fighter. It also has auto-tracking gunfire, that can correct the pilots' gunfire. The Excalibur has 4 Tachyon guns, 2 Ion guns and 8 missile slots. It was produced only in small quantities because of it's price.

Bearcat - Heavy fighter. This fighter was originally (and still is) meant to show that it's manufacturing company (Douglas Aerospace) is the best comapny in fighter-production. The Beacrat has a better maneuverability than the Arrow (!!!), combined with the shielding and firepower of an ordinary heavy fighter. There are only a few squadrons of Bearcats in service. A Bearcat has 4 Tachyon guns.

Dragon - Heavy Fighter (may be considered as "Super-Fighter"). The infamous Dragon is without any doubt, the best fighter around. It has 2 Plasma Guns, 2 Tachyon guns, 2 Special Fission guns, 12 missile slots, and 2 torpedo slots. It also has shields and armor of a bomber, and maneuverability of a medium-fighter. The Dragon also has cloaking capabilities, jump capabilities, and special power-plants, that enable it to use his afterburners without any fuel invested. The Dragon is probably the most powerful fighter in the universe, capable to destroy ANY enemy fighter or even any enemy fighter-squadron (!!!!!!!).

Longbow - Bomber. Like a typical bomber, the Longbow has powerful shielding and armor (same rate as the Dragon). The Longbow has a very poor maneuverability, and can get only to half of the speed that an Excalibur can get to. The Longbow has 2 Ion guns, 2 Plasma guns, 1 Particle gun, 1 tractor beam, 16 (!!!!) missile slots, and 4 torpedo slots.

Kilrathi Fighters:

Darket - Light Fighter. This fighter has great speed and maneuverability, BUT, it has a very thin shields and armor array. It also has a poor firepower (only 2 meson guns, and 2 missile slots). A Darket is pretty much of a joke, when comes single, but, when a large squadron of Darkets comes to the attack, they could be a real pesk... they are usually used for patrol, reconeissance, and especially attacking Longbows (or any other bomber).

Dralthi - Medium fighter. Like the Darket, the Dralthi is inferior of it's confed-equivelant, the Hellcats. The Dralthi is inferior to the Hellcat both in it's speed, maneuverability, shielding and firepower (2 paricle guns, 1 proton gun and 4 missile slots). BUT, although the Dralthi is not as good as the Hellcat, it is MUCH more cheaper, resulting in the Kilrathi building a lot more Dralthis than the Confederation built Hellcats... this major advantage showed that the Dralthi is one of the most successful fighters that were ever invented.

Vaktoth - Heavy fighter. This fighter is best compared with the Confederation Thunderbolt. it is similarly armed (1 Tacyhon gun, 2 Plasma guns, 2 Ion guns, 2 meson guns and 8 missile slots), but is lightly more shielded and armored than the Thunderbolt. The lack of a torpedo slot, and the integration of jump capabilities, however, means that the Vaktoth has a somewhat different designated role than the Thunderbolt. The Vaktoth is primariliy used for escort and scout missions, and also occasionally called on in the role of space-superiority.

Paktahn - Bomber. This fighter is similar to the Longbow by it's role as a torpedo bomber. The Paktahn is slightly faster than the longbow, but has less shields and armor. However, tha Paktahn can carry the heaviest missile payload among all existing fighters - 14 missiles and 6 torpedoes (due remember that a torpedo is a VERY large missile...). The Paktahn has poor maneuverability, but has 2 Ion Guns, 4 Plasma guns and 1 rear mass driver gun.

Strakha - Stealth Fighter. This special fighter has one main role: Recon missions. The Strakha has a cloaking device, enabeling the Strakha to disappear (not only visualy, but also in the radar). The Strakha hasn't been changed since the first Kilrathi war, so a Dragon's cloaking device is much better. The Strakha has a very poor maneuverability, and a Strakha is a joke if you are sitting in a medium or heavy fighter. It has the thinnest shields and armor among all existing fighters, it also has a very weak firepower (2 meson guns, 2 laser guns and 5 missile slots). It's old cloaking device isn't capable of holding the Strakha invisible for a long time, and a single Strakha can be destroyed by the greenest rookie (unless the pilot of the Strakha is a Super-Ace...).

Bloodfang - Super Fighter. Not many details are known about this fighter... Rumor has it, that only 3 Bloodfangs were created: One for the Kilrathi prince, Thrakkath, and the other 2, for his guards. This fighter may be even more powerful than the Dragon. Only one sighting of this fighter was ever recorded; One Bloodfang encountered 6 Thunderbolts, 4 Hellcats and an Excalibur. The Bloodfang destroyed entire squadron except the Excalibur (that managed to escape... somehow...).