Back to the topic, MFF had its place. It was just a matter of understanding how to use (or not to use) the concept. I did it as both the fighter and the little guy trying to hang on.
The first problem was guys just glancing through the “SOPs” without giving much thought to the practicalities. It worked best when the fighter(s) took their Hawks into an engagement with due consideration to the speed and acceleration differences WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE OVERRIDING FIGHTER TACTICS. Depending on the threat being engaged, there were opportunities to get the Hawks to a position where they could employ AIM9 bringing more missiles to larger formations; the fighters could either press or separate as they saw fit.
At the other extreme (e.g. High Flyers or Super Sonics) the fighters simply had to ditch the Hawks and fly the appropriate profile.
There was always the option to leave the Hawks behind to set up a Vis CAP or for them to continue to follow the fighters to the intercept using GCI, AWACS or (rarely) commentary from the fighters.
When doing it as one of the Hawks, we just had to accept that we may get an engagement with the fighters, we may get an engagement behind them or we may be a (rather poor) chaff bundle for the fighters.
The concept was as flexible as the fighter crews were willing to be and how much effort we put into it.
It ended the at the same time as the Cold War - it wasn’t seen as necessary and other factors meant that there were fewer Hawks that could be spared from their primary role to practice it.
The greatest benefit was that the Tankers didn’t seem to recognise that not all the aircraft from one formation were AAR capable. My challenge was to see how long a Victor would let me sit just behind the drogue before being told to “go away”.