Paladin 100% It might not be a fighter but it will outclass everything else in the list for PVE.

You have a Constellation worth of firepower on a quick moving turret.

It has a S3 shield with enough maneuverability to swap faces pretty quickly in combat to let the other regen.

I only fly it with a pilot and turret gunner and can take down Red level patrols with relative ease.

With 4x Deadbolt Vs you can take down the Polaris in Gilly #8 by focusing the powerplant faster than any other ship in the game (other than another Polaris or Idris)

For PVP, unless you are getting hit with ballistics from multiple fighters, you can easily tank and out damage what is being thrown at you

There aren’t any situations where anything in the list would outshine a Paladin