Getting back to the earlier point about it not all being about the spear chucking end of things, one good example in recent times has been the Tornado F3 ADV - not a brilliant aircraft for ACM, having a pair of engines that perform best below 20Kft, excess longitudinal stability (a hangover from it's mud mover flight profile) and generally not being a sparkling performer.
On paper, easy meat..til it got upgraded with Link16 - at which point it's beefed up situational awareness turned it into a very good interceptor, taking input from AWACS and integrating that into their picture of the battle. It was still a lead sled with all it's limitations but suddenly admitting you'd been shot down by an F3 went from a "Bwahahah..." event to a glum nod and a "Yeah, me too"..thing.
On paper, easy meat..til it got upgraded with Link16 - at which point it's beefed up situational awareness turned it into a very good interceptor, taking input from AWACS and integrating that into their picture of the battle. It was still a lead sled with all it's limitations but suddenly admitting you'd been shot down by an F3 went from a "Bwahahah..." event to a glum nod and a "Yeah, me too"..thing.