I'm coming to accept the defender not being the super interceptor that I kind of wanted it to be. The interceptor is still available, and for similar costs to the defender you can kit it out to have 5 HP, high PS, push the limit, etc and play that kind of game if you want. The defender seems to be built to zoom across the board and dish out pain with its 3 attack/cannons and being generally tough to kill with 6 HP and 3 agility, though it lacks the ability to evade/boost. If you want to play the interceptor role, then use an interceptor.

I have a slight dream of configuring some kind of build that uses one defender, one phantom, and Soontir Fel, but it's hard to say if it will be possible to fit them all in and make them at least somewhat viable as a squad

Yeah I was hoping that the defender could be a super interceptor, that could maneuver in tight turns with lots of greens like interceptors. I was hoping I could use auto blaster effectively on an interceptor like ship but those dreams are crushed with the picture of the defenders dial with a red sharp 1.