Since when have our political leadership allowed for BVR kills? The F-4 didn't have a gun as it was supposed to be the age of the missile, and the maneuverabil

Since when have our political leadership allowed for BVR kills? The F-4 didn't have a gun as it was supposed to be the age of the missile, and the maneuverability was built into the missiles. Then the pilots were required to close up and identify the targets before shooting. I can think of one missile kill BVR and they already knew the opfor was hostile. As long as there is ambiguity in the conflict there will be no BVR kills. In my opinion we should scrap the whole manned fighter thing, as sad as that thought is, and create an army of expendable maneuverable drones that are affordable enough to throw them into combat.