This isn't the first time I've pitched this, but the mod has evolved since and it may be more workable now. Since the birth of the /restart command which places you in a ship whose stats give them a comparable berth among endgame ships I've been tempted to pitch this across again.
Why don't we remove the 'ladder' from the mod and make all ships' shielding, durability and weapon class ratings comparable to one another? Bring fighter weapon classes down from ten to... let's say four. Four total weapon grades, one to four. Class One being comparable to Class Seven, 2 to 8, 3 to 9, 4 to 10. Do the same for shielding.
Revamp the Starflier into a weak but zippy LF that packs the current equivalent of two Class 7 guns and one Class 8, with a Class 8 LF shield. Remove the player-purchasable Mk 1 vessels from the mod that have had same-model Mk II equivalents made for the sake of balance, and rename those Mk II vessels into their Mk 1 originals.
As for patrols, perhaps make them as powerful as what is found in Rheinland as of now, if not a little moreso with the equivalent of Class 7 weapons and shielding. This would also potentially encourage players to get out of Liberty as the NPCs would suddenly become difficult to ignore.
Upsides would be a much smaller tech ladder to climb to enrich the roleplay experience, and a much smaller mod size. It would also open up several weapon classes for ease of expansion. I'm sure other advantages haven't been made apparent.
Downsides are many. New player ships would be potentially dangerous before said players could know the rules. It would be a lot of work. Not just for a bit of rebalancing, but to recode the patrols of entire houses with new ships and guns. And maybe some strange types just like working up the ladder.
Just throwing this out there for discussion and far, far distant implementation if it gets approved.