Much of this has to do with the advancement of technology in the mid and late 1970s that allowed radar to do both a2a and a2g effectively in a small package. The APG-66 allowed the F-16A to sling unguiged iron as accurately as or better than dedicated attackers like the A-7, F-111, Jaguar etc. The F-18 was the first naval aircraft from the onset meant to be a “flip the switch” a2a to a2g. The APG-65, Night Owl and improved cockpit ergonomics allowed the Hornet to fit both the light ground attack role of the aging A-7 and a supplementary fighter to the expensive F-14 effectively inspite of its deficient range.
The miniturization of BVR weapons in the form of AMRAAM and Adder has also bolstered the self escorting concept. If active homing missiles were developed as big as the sparrow, albeit superior performance to the AMRAAM, then only large platforms such as the Eagle, Tomcat or Flanker would be able to carry them with out feeling the aerodynamic or weight pinch. ex. The F-16ADF was a dog with Sparrows, F-15 hardly feels the pain. With the AMRAAM a small(er) plane could carry 4 self escort missiles along with a warload and a fuel tank or two. With larger fighter bombers like the Eagle and Flanker the compact medium range missile will weigh less and take up less real estate allowing for more carriage of fuel or weapons.
While multirole and self escort are nice feature to have in the post Cold War draw down bean counters have fallen in head over heels in love with them. Just look at the F-16s doing DEAD and CAS, F-15Es doing low level strike, Super Hornet doing, well, everything, and the tri-service F-35. In a perfect world there would still be dedicated platforms for a2a, CAS/BAI, EW, tanking etc. but the economic realities are not going to allow it.
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