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If the enemy doesn’t know you’re there, you don’t have to fire from maximum range.

Either way, if the enemy turns and flees, from your perspective you’ve won the engagement. Whatever their purpose in the area was (SEAD, strike, air superiority, etc.) has been subverted.

I believe missiles have a certain range at which, when fired, the kill is ensured. The F35 would not need to fire the missile at the absolute possible range the missile can fly to, but at the range the kill is guaranteed.

Sort of. You can get to a range where kinematically defeating the missile is unlikely / impossible, but it still might fail due to any number of problems that can happen during the intercept.

It's not just a range, but the overall kinematic situation. It's referred to as the no escape zone, or more informally "the basket" from what I've read.

The rules of the wargame, which are invariably rigged for the most expensive toy.