We have dedicated Passenger Liners, yet best passenger ships are Pythons and Anacondas
We have dedicated Combat ships (Alliance, Feds), yet the best combat ships are FDL, Mamba and the Kraits.
I'd say the Chief rates as far as combat ships go. Also to me the Mamba and FDL seem to fit the combat ship ethos so it feels like combat ships are doing pretty well on dedicated boats.
Bah, arm your mining boat and tank it up.
Cutter again excels at this. Armed and tanked well enough to eat the face off most pirates, fast enough to bail when outgunned.
Any of the big 3 (or 4 if you will) can be tanked to the gills while still leaving ample room for mining but yes, the cutter is something else given the optionals and engineering. It's a nut that should never crack.