Assault Frigates
Summary
Assault Frigates (commonly referred to as AFs) are Tech II frigates, designed around firepower and survivability. They are able to fit Assault Damage Control modules, which greatly increase their resistances for a short duration. While Assault Frigates can be used as durable tacklers, Interceptors are much, much faster and more ideal for this role under most conditions. They are considerably better than other frigates at taking damage and focus on dealing damage rather than using electronic warfare or else.
Assault Frigates are generally rather used as highly mobile DPS platforms. Their small size and relatively high agility allows them to slip through lowsec gatecamps with ease, their small signature radius allows them to go up against ships much larger than themselves without being guaranteed a swift death and they are able to mount much more firepower than their Tech I counterparts, in many cases approaching the DPS of a cruiser.
They are both good in fleets and in solo operations, but it's easier to find assault ships flying solo than almost any other frigate type, because of their characteristics. Assault ships are not to be underestimated.