I know that it's not kosher around here, but the jump drive physics explanation in the Wing Commander (movie) Confederation Handbook does a pretty good job at explaining how fighters might have jump drives...
Woah there--it's totally kosher. All the movie material is "canon", as the kids are saying these days.
In fact, the 'physics of jumping' article you're referencing was actually done by Origin for the series bible in 1992. The editors of the Confederation Handbook reprinted the entire piece with various minor changes and additions to tie it to the movie (ie, further explanation of the NAVCOM).
Ever wonder why the books and such are remarkably consistent about particular jump-drive related facts that don't appear anywhere in the game? Multiple authors talking about 'jump sickness' and how ships have to slow before jumping and so on? It's because of that article, which went out to everyone working on the Wing Commander license over the years...
(The jump stuff in the games themselves, though, was never visually consistent. Remember the Victory's whole fleet going through a single space hole in WC3 system transitions?)
I recall the device, and I want to say it was some kind of dish/array mounted on a transport. But I don't have my novel remotely onhand to check into it for sure.
I don't have a copy of the book at work and will check when I get home, but let me get in on this. My memory says it was an old corvette with an oversized parabolic antenna. Blair recognized the technology as something the Confederation had experimented with but was surprised to see it in use.