Getting back to the thread....
Lemme see....close to ideal fighter....
I'd have to go with the M/AM drives, like a lot of other guys, along with the warp drives that seem to come with it. I and a buddy have been contemplating the construction of a fighter which we based on the Vampire's chassis. Tentatively, we called it the Nosferatu.
Wings are different, slightly swept forward, and the engine pods revised to 4 engines hugging the central fuselage. Thrust direction is controlled by individual 2 dimensional thrust vectoring panels mounted at the exhaust ports, at 45 degree inclinations, if you wer looking at the exhaust dead-on. (therefore, if you look at the entire rear section, the vanes would form a diamond-shaped pattern) Other maneuvering systems would include the use of vernier burners located on key sections of the ship's airframe to make maximum use of applications of moment force. Forward firing weapons would comprise of 5 gun points, and maybe 3 or 4 pairs of missile HP's. For the guns, I'd employ a combo of weapons which I tried and tested in SO. A pair of dust cannons, and a pair of pulse particle guns. The 5th gunpoint, would be programmed to fire seperately from the othersl; a single, center mounted plasma cannon mounted in the belly. With this config.....missiles? We don' need no steenking missiles! Alternately, instead of the other 4 guns, I'd consider the use of 3 dust cannons, mounted in cluster. Whether on full guns, or alternating fire, you've got a gatling gun which would do the A-10's Avenger cannon proud.
For missiles, loadout would of course be mission variable for flexibility. At least 4 to 6 Artemis ELRIR's would be part of the complement.
With this loadout, and apparent level of technology in WCP era, I think it would be reasonable to have the top speed max out at between 550 to 600 kps on normal ML. Shield and engine performance comparable to the Vampire, however, maneuverability may wind up somewhere between the Vampire and the Panther. To support all systems, this is where the M/AM power system becomes critical, because the fighter is meant to survive the harshest kinds of battle conditions. The reactor must be able to keep all systems in constant recharge at an accelerated rate.