I'm not really thrilled with the new Cheetah, considering that it has an XL engine & Ferro-Alum armor, they could have done a lot better IMO. The mission is simple - Outgun, Outrun & Outlast the FedCom fighters (Sparrowhawk)

I don't think that the loss of a thrust point (11/17 vs 12/18) will make enough of a difference to justify the 1.5 ton heavier engine
.
Any thoughts?

Cheetah  25 tons

Engine 225 XL  - 5 tons
Thrust 11/17
HS 10 (20)
Fuel                   - 4 tons
Cockpit              - 3 tons
Armor Ferr-Alm   - 8 tons
142 points - 43/34/31
3 ERML, 2 x ML - 5 tons
         

   

Well since there are 3 Cheetah factories it wouldn't be too hard to have 3 different models produced. 

One option would be to swap the 5 ton ML loadout for a 5 ton ERLL. However the max damage drops from 25 to just 8.
Perhaps drop a ton of fuel & a ton of armor on the ERLL model, to add 2 x ML as secondary weapons?