Hmmm.... I'm pretty sure torpedo's were only brought in as the answer to phase-shields... which were not created sometime between WC1 and WC2.... that's a big space though LOL
use your imagination and all the fame and glory of the Wing Commander universe is open for you...
And in the spirit of that statement, which strangely inspired me... here is my theory besides the "stupid designer errors" one LOL
Here are the games in chronological order
WC2, Academy, Priv, Armada, WC3
And here are all of the confed fighters from those games
Ferret, Epee, Stiletto Rapier, Sabre, Broadsword, Crossbow, Morningstar, Wraith... Arrow, Hellcat, Phantom, Thunderbolt, Gladius, Banshee, Longbow, Excalibur...
And here are my completely personal ideas, if you don't agree... that's cool, but I don't think anybody can say they are right or wrong since it's all just based on screw-ups of the makers of Wing Commander.
FERRET: This was introduced as a patrol fighter in the beginning of wing commander 2, and is suggested that it is not cutting edge, seeing as how a backwater outpost is outfitted with them, and the confederate flagship herself, the concordia, is not. Also, it gives the feel that it is old due to the refit it recieces in the Special Ops add ons.
EPEE: Seems to me this is the low-budget crap fighter, but seemingly newer (ITTS, Particle Cannons). Probobaly more recent than the ferret.
RAPIER: We all know this... so never mind.
SABRE: More or less, just a damn good fighter built between WC1 and 2, but maybe aging? (crap armor, not impressive shields) I think it was a replacement for the Raptor, which was around before WC1.
BROADSWORD: Built with one specific purpose in mind - to deliver torpedos to capships with phase shielding. Probobaly came in when phase shields did. Maybe a little old? (They were replacing it with the Crossbow)
CROSSBOW: Introduced to replace the Broadsword.... I'm not sure but I don't think it ever ACTUALLY hit mass production.
MORNINGSTAR: Another confed prototype built to house the Mace..... I doubt it ever hit production.
STILETTO: Probobaly in service at the same time as all of the WC2 fighters, but through circumstance, you don't get to see one until Privateer.
WRAITH: The prototype was available in Academy to fly... suggesting it was slated for production, might have even been well into production, but since it seemed VERY costly with it's amazing speed and reapercannons/leach missiles. Maybe when the peace accord was signed confed halted the project. But in Armada it appears again.... I guess the remaining Wraiths were transfered to the TCS Lexington (see my gladius theory below)
GLADIUS: Okay, I feel all of the fighters on the TCS Lexington(armada) were sort of out of place, maybe they just threw together a rag-tag order of whatever they could find for the fighter compliment after the results of the Battle of Terra... The Gladius B is a modified version of the militia fighter(seen in priv), with new engines, weapons, and shielding.
ARROW: Probobaly developed in the time of WC2, in early testing... after all, the WC2 fighter's weapons were way behind the known technology(shown in priv) and it was time for a new generation of craft. In Armada the Arrow and the Gladius both have a green looking engine, different from the other craft, and they are both VERY fast. This could be a new expirimental type of Ion engine, which is taken out of the Arrow by WC3 because it's probobaly too expensive with the new weapons systems.
BANSHEE: Once again, in development at the time of WC2, but not to the point of being commissioned for production. Just the few surviving models were transfered to the mismatch compliment of the Lexington.
PHANTOM: Same as Banshee.
HELLCAT: Developed around the same time as the others, but when Confed needed to rebuild it's fighter numbers they built a lot of these, the new standard in mediocre cost for mediocre performance...
LONGBOW: The winner for the position of replacing the aged Broadsword bomber... put into heavy producton during the reconstruction after the Battle of Terra.
THUNDERBOLT: The relatively new basic heavy fighter for confed in WC3. Nothing too special.
EXCALIBUR: We all know this too.