There is a reason everyone in vanilla uses Eagles.
In Freelancer, speed is more important than armour. All the VHF variants carry just about the same fire power but the Titan can't get in as many shots because the more agile ships fly rings around it.
Same thing applies to capitals vs single-seaters, too. No point in having eleventy billion armour if your opponent is basically free to whittle it away bit by bit because you can't hit them.