<ponders if he wants to jump into the A-10 debate..again>
Ah heck with it
The idea that A10's are "slow" as something to balance them tends towards being something of a false argument.
The average Fed pilot doesn't dump them out until they're in position to fire anyway,much like the plasma fighters themselves are (usually) employed. And the idea that "they won't make it back to the hanger bay " is another, the m version can absorb 20 pts of damage, so it depends on where the plasma was fired.
Their ability to fire (near) instantly with the photons make them an excellent one-shot dump weapon, the fact that they can later follow this up with a decent drone salvo makes them all the better.
In SFB (btw) they are restricted fighters - I believe only the CVA/SCS carries them, and then only 2 wings.
HOWEVER - that being said they are somewhat vunerable to drone fighters. The K-ZYBm stands a pretty fair chance at killing them, and the ZYCm will cut through them with the sheer number of antifighter drones it can launch.
But~
The drone fighters don't fire instantly (I don't know the exact time they take to load) so they have to be out first, which of course means they're subject to AMD/phasers/drones etc...
Also note that the Gorn,Rom and ISC all have photon (though not photon & drone) carrying fighters.
I have not used them personally, but while they can't salvo as many shots (A10m can fire 2 shots 2 times, Rom GSFm can fire 1 shot 4 times) they should have approximately the same ability to drop and fire.
EDIT (the second) Also keep in mind that PlasmaD is probably the single most effective mass fighter killer in the game. (assuming you're playing plasma)
Edit (the third) and No.. the A10's don't take up two slots, that's reserved for their big brother, the A20
(and the F-111 ..which is another story all together)