My friend and I tried this mission three times and we got 2-3 transports raided before the patrol ships killed us. We teamed up with another player that wanted help to complete this mission and we successfully raided 4 transports. My friend and I went after the transports while he went after the patrol ships.

I don't believe this mission is broke. I happen to enjoy challenging objectives. If the optional objectives were easy, it would be no fun.