so the way i thought about them is as follows:
fighters take out bombers
bombers take out ships (ie. frigates and larger)
am i wrong? cause other posts i see is that people are using fighters to combat frigates and such, they are supposed to counteract the enemies bombers that are chewing up your frigates and larger ships. there was one post titled 'gameplay mechanic issue' and the guy goes on and on about not being able defend properly while hes stocked up on fighters in his hangers...