This suggestion is specifically for the BETA:
Either make some missions which have 1 or a few ships of a single type OR
allow the player to mix and match the enemy fleet as well.
This way, we can pit a single squad of fighters against a single frigate, see how a dreadnaught fares against fighters, and generally get a better idea of how the balance is boiling down now.
In addition, maybe you can (again, only for the beta) add the ‘enemy’ ship layouts, maybe not editable but at least placable, so we can place them and experiment.
I think we should go further - add an entire ‘skirmish’ game type where you get to pick every aspect - anomalies, size, budget etc., and then let you set up both fleets at the same time. This would also solve the problem of having to post challenges to yourself to test a specific fleet.
the first, second, third, 5th and 6th mission can be one with only 1 ship already 
Perhaps there could be challenge mode scoreboards on the missions - with the top score under “no armor” restriction, or “only 1 ship type”, …
I was talking about the ENEMY having only 1 ship type, so you can place 1 dreadnaught against 3 destroyers and see who’d win, for example.
EDIT: Actually, looking at the files and folders, this’ll be really easy to do. I gotta do some groceries first, but I’ll see whether I can’t make a little tutorial and/or tool to do this.
This is exactly what i was missing too, so we can test our creations one by one and see how they do against a single type of ship…