A list of ships that I think have no real use/role, either due to efficiency or better alternatives. Feel free to discuss or add your own.


The Hammerhead Corvette.

Hammerhead TL:DR
It is expensive and is not great at any role. It is not drastically better at hunting Corvettes or Frigates compared to the CR90 when compared to its increased price and production time, and it is definitely worse when dealing with fighters and bombers. Its turning circle is much worse than the CR90, meaning it often fall behind when your corvette flotilla tries to disengage or reposition, leaving it behind and easily overwhelmed in such situations.

Suggestion for improvements: Make the Turbo Lasers Long range. That way, it can assist in screening on the frontline, while picking on the the opposing backline frigates and support ships. It would also allow it to contribute more when it is forced to reposition or fall back.
Also, a slight price reduction would help as well. I see no reason why it should be 25% more expensive than the CR90, as it is basically a sidegrade(and a poor one at that). Drop it down to 2200 or 2300, so that it sits between the CR90 and the Marauder in terms of combat roles, with a price similar to the Marauder.


Longer version:
In theory, it could serve as screener/hunter hybrid, having both a Dual Laser Cannon, two Heavy Laser Cannons and 2 Light Turbolasers, as well as an ability that makes it move fast and take less hull damage, so in theory, great for getting into or out of trouble.
But in reality, it accomplishes this hybrid role very poorly, and you are paying more for the ship compared to the clear alternative.

As a Screener, it lacks enough Laser Cannons and Heavy Laser Cannons to efficiently take out fighters and bombers, so you would have to bring other screening vessels(like the CR90) to compensate. Or better yet, just field the CR90 without any Hammerheads. It is cheaper and more effective at screening.

As a Hunter, 2 Heavy Laser Cannons and a Dual Laser Cannon are not enough to effectively deal with enemy Corvettes(and the Light TL are not accurate enough to deal reliable damage) when you compare it to the CR90's 2 Dual Heavy Laser Cannons and 4 Laser Cannons.
Against Frigates, having only 2 Light TL is not powerful enough to quickly and effectively take such targets out, plus you need to get fairly close, and the CR90s 2 Heavy Dual Laser Cannons and 4 Laser Cannons actually provide as good damage vs lightly armored Frigates.
The only advantage the Hammerhead has over the CR90, is slightly longer range due to its Light TL weaponry(2500 compared to 2000), but its ideal attack range(the range it closes to) is the same(2000).
And when you get access to the Marauder Corvette with its long range and powerful weaponry, it completely outclass the Hammerhead as a frigate Hunter or support fire against cruisers, as it can snipe them from far away and have Ion weaponry.

And then there is the survivability. The Medium armor of the Hammerhead helps vs Laser Cannons and Heavy Laser Cannons, as well as Lasers from fighters, but those types of weapons are rarely the major threat for a Corvetter flotilla. Against laser weaponry, you can typically get away before taking too much damage(taking shield damage is a great indication). Various forms of missiles, are a big problem though, as their damage typically surprise you in alpha strikes, and you need to respond quickly to avoid a second alpha strike.
The Hammerhead does have its Blockade Runner ability, which is nice to have, but the ship's turning circle is so large that unless you are facing in the retreat direction from the start, you are not really creating any notable distance.
The CR-90's turn much faster and can quickly get away, potentially even outrunning missiles, leaving the Hammerheads of the group far behind. Combine that with the higher cost and production times, and you now have a vulnerable, expensive link in your Corvette formation.


The Alliance Assault Frigate Mk2(AAF2).

AFF2 TL:DR
The ship's current role and availability comes at a time where it is no longer really needed. It has high potential damage vs Cruisers and even capital ships, with decent durability, but has short range and the ship is fairly slow and less agile compared to most of your other Cruisers, so getting into range and truly "contribute" takes a while. It has no fighters of its own and the majority of its weapons are forward facing, which makes it less flexible when trying to make a fleet composition.
As a "get close for the finishing blow" type of ship, other ships are available to the New Republic, which are both cheaper and have a broader application of use.
The AFF2s benefits are a decent amount of durability and damage for the price and pop, and can work as a stopgap if you are sitting on 15 pop, but as a Cruiser/Capital ship killer, you have more efficient alternatives.

Suggestions for Improvement:
Give it 275 speed. Currently it is too slow to get within range of good targets or get out of bad situations, and it has trouble keeping up with modern frigates, cruisers and even capital ships.
In addition, I think it should switch roles a bit.
Main Armament should be 4 Medium Dual TLs(less of them and less rate of fire, but better range and still forward facing), as well as 2 Light Quad TL and 2 Light Dual Turbo ICs. For the non-targetable it would be 3 Medium TLs, 2 Light Dual TLs and 6 Heavy LCs.
This would make it sit somewhere between the MC40 and MC60 in terms of cost and pop, with less utility(no fighters or bombers, no special weapons) with similar durability and firepower to the MC60, but faster. It can pounce on Cruisers and Capital ships, and it can chase and kill Frigates.


Longer version:
The Alliance Assault Frigate Mk2 becomes available when you progress to the New Republic Era of tech. This usually means that you already have tier 3 Frigates and Cruisers available and have fairly well defined fleets already. In that regard, it brings nothing remarkably new. It has a lot of firepower and durability at a decent price, but how this damage is delivered and against which types of targets, is the problem.

The ship's main firepower is the 6 Medium Dual CR TLs. This means it needs to get very close to deal optimal damage and is most effective against unshielded Cruisers and some Capital ships.
At the same time, it only has 225 speed with average turning speed and no way to boost it. And on top of that, the majority of the weapons are forward facing. This means that it needs to fly close to an enemy to deal damage, and if needed to fall back, stops dealing damage. It is basically a "scalpel" like ship.
The problem is that the Rebellion/New Republic already have such tools available or will get them shortly.
The MC30 can be cheaply massed and overwhelm enemy Cruisers and Capital ships, and they have the speed and agility to do so effortlessly.
You have B-Wings and the new K-Wing for similar tasks.

Even the older AAF Mk1 can still provide reasonable damage in a similar role. It is faster, more agile and with heavier armor(class), and if you can slip in between 2 weakened targets, can get maximum firepower(4 Medium Dual CR TLs on each side) while using its Power to Main Batteries ability. It can even kite to a certain degree, as you can move diagonally to the enemy force on the flank, potentially dragging enemies out of formation. And it is cheaper.

Basically the AAF2 is a ship that wants to do things that you fleet already does, but in an inefficient manner. It needs to get close to pull its weight, it is big enough to be targeted by capital ships and bombers alike, slow enough to take a beating on approach and if trying to fall back(slowly) it basically stops shooting.
Meanwhile, the rest of the New Republic fleet focuses on longer range firepower or smaller, nimbler vessels that slip through the heavy firepower. Most of their capital ships are also faster than the AAF2 and they now have comarable firepower to that of the Imperial Navy.