Ah, I was hoping this would be about all the unused mine droppers out there, and how to create more variety in mines. Oh well.
I don't see much problem with nukes. But then I don't see much problem with your arguements about how to change them, either. My issue is with what you said about the Chimaera/Katana.
See, these ships may be on the "lighter" side of the VHFs, but they're still VHFs. While variety is a necessity in all types of ships, there are some thing that need to be standard all across the board for balanced gameplay. I don't mean that mines have to be one of these "standard" things, but if we remove mines from the Kusari ships, we'll have to remove mines from several other "lighter" ships as well, lest the Kusari players start whining about how unfair things are for them. And I don't see enough of a positive effect from this in order to condone actually doing it.
Although it might be interesting to consider this: Rogue_91 mentioned LFs, and I started thinking about the difference in cargo space between LFs, HFs, and VHFs. What if an LF could only carry 50 units of any given type of ammunition, an HF 60, and a VHF 70? It would make more sense, taking the actual size of each ship into account. But again, not entirely necessary. Just an observation.
Also: Kusari ships aren't really made out of balsa wood and rice paper, guys. They may be a bit less armored than their neighbors' ships, but that doesn't mean that any one attack should insta-kill a Kusari VHF any more than it should insta-kill another VHF.