When you intercept a starship and are having trouble destroying it, fly up behind it. They all have phasers on the back, so pull up beside an engine. Concentrate your fire on that engine. If done correctly, you will not get hit while destroying the starship. Also when attacking an "Akula" class starship, disable its shields, then go directly in the middle to the impulse engines and fire at the ship. This works almost all of the time. The only thing that could hit you are the fighters.