Shuttles!!

I say shuttles, in-game they are supposed to be the "support frigate" class, but they're meant to look shuttle-like so I just call them shuttles. These frigates are the healer type ship for your fleet, very important for keeping the rest of your fleet up to scratch but very delicate.

The US ones above are very sleek and jet-like. Their CAC counterparts below however are meant to look beefier and more rugged, a couple aren't even really passable as shuttles.

Oh, and the antennae/satellite dish looking things on their noses are their heal beam emitters. They heal other ships by shooting a glowing green beam at them. Gotta love the realism...