If DEW’s aboard tactical fighters are successful and tactically significant as both an offensive and defensive weapon, i am sure many many air forces would re-look at their fleets. We may well n
eed many many more bombers then fighters…basically take out the opponent before he can launch his babies…Larger crafts can also generate more powerful DEW and of course carry a lot more weapons.

DEWs are just one of the trends. I think air combat may evolve on the lines of naval warfare. I don’t think we haave peaked out the evolution of air war. I think that the future is more diverse ahead. Will write more later to qualify that statement.

BIO quote:

I do not think its made WVR and post merge combat less relevant, but it has highly incentivised other means of killing an opponent fighter.

I think that far less is likely to survive post merge than ever before. This means getting the merge right for the fighter becomes a very high priority. so the question is not if WVR is relevant but rather what kind of WVR? Here sustained turn rates are less useful and instantaneous turn rates become far more important. The JSF and the JF-17 both compromise sustained turn rates for instantaneous turn rates, this may be why.