Well, i say we could tweak the manta a little. Mercs more oftenly prefer the r.talon instead of manta. Manta is a bounty hunter ship but I see its spread of usage is kinda lower. Also it already has a lower hull and agility of the ship is another lacking point. I say give it 5 gun slots consisting of a single level 9 and quadro level 10 gun slots. In addition to the 5 gun slots give 2 active level 5 turret slots which could be used either for shield busting or hull penetration. Maybe it would give people a reason to use the manta as a fighter.
This is just an opinion of course and didnt personally want to open a new thread for just a single ship.