It was fun to give it some minor weaponry, of a sort.

I had a lot of fun with this design:
This class, nicknamed the Soaring Griffin, is specialized for salvage, construction, rescue and similar operations. It carries no weaponry, but has four modular equipment bays on the upper and lower wings.
The lower assemblies mount the primary equipment such as tractor beams, fusion welders and so forth. The upper wings on this model have a trio of thrusters for precise movements, and a pair of long solar capacitors for storing spare energy. This array can both prolong the Griffin's mission life as well as being used to repower a crippled ship.
To better protect the standard Griffin in combat zones, the Thunder Griffin has been introduced for escort duties. Though still being evaluated, it has shown considerable promise.
Swapping out the normal support gear, the Thunder Griffin mounts an impressive arsenal. Two experimental gatling cannons and four SCAR-4 pulse laser turrets are used for precision strikes, along with a pair of triple cannons. While the SCAR-4 is mainly a light weapon designed for fast recon ships, and lacks the hitting power of larger models, it's more effective in arrays.
Eight XR220 missile pods (four forward and four aft) give it a ranged punch, along with a pair of Mk 48 Shipbreaker missiles. Two XR70 missile pods are mounted above and below the central engines, to better protect them. One drawback of this configuration is that the Thunder Griffin has only average speed and maneuverability, since the Soaring Griffin is not a military design. Its armor is also modest, but the firepower tends to make up for it. It's hoped that it will also prove effective as a ground support unit.