[flipper35]

In some cases, yes. In this case she had to come below cloud cover to engage. At least that is my understanding. Colonel Bobby Efferson's situation I don't know other than he took a hit at altitude and speed. The stand-of capabilities of the weapons now is good but they can be used on other aircraft as well. Heck, an F-15E took out a flying helicopter with a Paveway just because.

Since I am not privy to any top secret stuff I am not aware of how invisible it is to sensors but down and dirty protecting the guys on the ground you sometimes have to get close and as far as i know they are not invisible to the Mk 1.

I agree that some commonality is good. The F-16 using the same engine as the F-15 during the fly offs was part of the deciding factor. That said, using one basic airframe for all three services is stupid. Bad enough for two services and the Phantom is the only real successful to do so, but it still needed a gun.