In space, inertia is a bitch. If you were to pilot a starfighter--and really expected to be an effective star warrior, blasting at bad guys--you'd need to move quickly and efficiently through the vacuum. There's just one problem: people aren't made to be whipped around by the jerky motions required to capitalize on the freedom of movement offered in an environment without atmosphere.
The solution? Droids! Or rather, drones. They could be R/C, but really this is the future, and you'd want a leg up on the other guy, so give 'em so A.I. and let them do the work. You'd likely build an armada of smallish fighters to do your dirty work, as this clip from The Universe: Space Wars depicts a swarm of box-shaped pirate fighters attacking a larger vessel.
I remember being really wowed by the ideas presented in this episode back in 2009, and the visual artists did a pretty good job representing the concepts. The action gets going quickly, so here's a bit of a rough lead in around the 34 minute and 13 second mark.
