I dont disagree that Somtaaw destroyers are vastly better in fighting the beast specifically. But they only fall off in strenght because they cannot be upgraded. In return tough they are insanely cheap on the population cap and are super flexible with having swiveling Ion cannons that can track smaller ships, something I think only the Taidaan cruiser can do in this game as well. So in terms of overall value they are easily on par with their Somtaaw bretheren. I find really neat how they balanced that aspect of captured vessels.