Take the time to read these books, my friend. If, by chance, you've read them before, you should read them again.
https://www.amazon.co...rds=mind+of+war
https://www.amazon.co...1&keywords=boyd
Good question. The time from design/engineering to full production on the Viper/Hornet was really short, around 5 years. I'm guessing munitions were released sometime around the competitive fly off period between the two jets, a couple years prior.