Homeworld Defence Field Frigate? What the heck does it do?

[Mancora]

Ok, heres the manual discription


defense field frigate

Like the Defense Fighter, the
Defense Field Frigate has no
attack capability. It can, however,
deflect almost 100 percent of all
oncoming enemy fire, with the
exception of ion beams, mines,
and missiles.





But how big is this darn field? does it just cover the ship, or does it cover the surounding area, how do you know if its covering the ship you want?


I have been able to find zilch amount of info on the web about this thing.



edit: yes this is an amazing upcoming game, homeworld 1 ! out soon on store shelves

(posted in the wrong forum, meant for gaming help)