Make a 2s 2l variant of the Hornet. It is a potentially good ship, but hardly ever gets used because four smalls don't make for a very good bomber and it isn't manoverable enough to be a heavy fighter. The 2s 2l layout is the only one we don't have at the moment and it would give new life to this underused ship.

I don't mean to pick on you again, but honestly it just sounds like you want to stuff swarms onto a hornet.

4 small ports are plenty enough to deliver a devastating blow. With the correct setup and proper aiming, you can one-hit someone from full health to 0. It might be an underused ship at the moment, but it has its moments. Yes, people do still use it on bombing runs.

probably an awful idea, imagine a universe where something akin to the orion convoy hornet can zip around forever and fire swarms at you and turbo through capital missiles and not be damaged

-1 just use a rag

OP has a point but adding large ports is the wrong idea I think. It either needs more armor to make it a more effective heavy fighter and bomber, or more agility to make it move like a medium fighter.

I've seen several folk run them with quad rails and be exceptionally deadly. I've used them at full turbo and made rocket sniper shots, I say leave them as is.

-1.

In high level combat hornets can prove useful against rags, and possibly as a quadrail vehicle if properly defended. But otherwise they don't find much use. I don't think every ship needs to have a specific application in high level combat though.

A modification to the hornet should be predicated upon filling some void of gameplay, not simply because it's a ship nobody uses.

Give the Itani a buffed version as a heavy? :P That's a void of gameplay.