I've been in fights before that have lasted ages. Some I've won because of this, some I've lost.
For instance, months ago, against Korrd, we had the most epic of duels for almost two hours. I had the upper hand... and then his net crashed. Quite the anti-climax for a fight which could have ended quicker.
Another fight, a recent battle against KNF, I was in my Hussar trying to nuke mine all of them. Very luckily, I managed to do so, but I had to run to the bathroom after due to the length of the damn fight. Now, with less armour and regens, I would have lost that fight, but I would have gotten to the bathroom quicker. Hmm.
Quick and painful. Yeah. That's how dogfights should be. It will also have the side effect of increasing light fighter usage, since the gaps between VHF and LF armour will be smaller and power plants will become less important. Missiles will become more important as less shots will be needed.
This would be a HUGE change however, and would probably require a rebalance of the entire mod. Bugger.