On the subject of FXXXV and wvr was the requirement not to match the F16 and F18?
As both the F16 and F18 wvr ability has been surpassed then it would seem that the FXXXV wvr ability cannot be deemed cutting edge.
HMS and missiles may negate this to an extent however if the weapon system cannot target the opposition then you are back to manouvering.
On a related note the ability to manouver is also a very useful attribute in a2g ops, either in a defensive mode or for fast offensive reaction.

A fighter that can turn as well or better than an F-16, and point its nose better than an F-18, is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Then add in the VLO and avionics(and 360deg spherical situational awareness/engagement). I don’t think one can simply take for granted that an F-35 will be easy pickings in WVR.

Airborne AWACS will be useless against LO fighters equipped with most likely ramjet-powered A-A missiles.

Even if we assuming that AWACS can spot a LO fighter at 150 km away, it is stilll too late to react.

Considering the fact a LO fighter sneaked some 150 km away from a AWACS and throw a 150km+ ranged ramjet A-A missile (with an active seeker) at the AWACS then shut down its radar and return to base.

Then assuming the AWACS flee to some random direction immediately, then:

(1)It will only takes ~2 mins for the A-A missile to reach the original location of the AWACS.

(2)Meanwhile the Boeing-737-like AWACS can at best move some 25-30km away from its original location.

(3) If the active-seeker installed on the A-A missile can track something with a RCS as big as a Boeing 737 for a range of >25-30 km+, then the AWACS will most likely get shot-down.

25-30km for an AAM seeker is optimistic, to say the least(not to mention the field of view). Even a ramjet powered missile would need a max range greatly exceeding the engagement range, to hope to hit non-cooperative targets at those sorts of ranges. If the AWACs descended to low altitude, the missile’s range would be greatly reduced too.

I tried to make this very argument with regards to the F-35’s less than stellar anticipated WVR abilities.

The F-35’s WVR capabilities aren’t expected to be less than stellar, by those that plan on operating them.

Yes…but no.
Not if the lower rcs aircraft can’t get a weapon targeted on the higher rcs aircraft until after the point that it has also been detected.
There is undoubtably a fleeting point in time when countermeasures lag the measures however it is by definition fleeting, in the grand scheme of things you would have to be lucky or facing a inferior foe to take advantage of the short time period of superiority.

The LO aircraft can also use/benefit from ECM, still providing them a synergistic advantage.

Other kit may very well have similar functionalities, though it still remains to be determined what the RCS of the T-50 and J-20 are vs the F-22 and F-35. The aircraft with the lower RCS will have the advantage, even if all else is equal. Having said that, it also remains to be seen how comparable the avionics/sensors are on the other aircraft.

The very fact that the Eagle pilot could keep his eyes outside the cockpit lowers his workload, from a pilot that has to take his eyes off the target, look down, flip switches under G, look up, visually reacquire the target.

As for the radar- search volume, resolution, modes, etc…

Less payload, but far more ISR capability, and 5x the airframes. 4000-5000 radius with 10 JDAMs or 70+ SDBs, not to mention JSOW/JASSM, is still a pretty awesome capability.