FlyPony, First of all I'm only here to debate, not argue.
My intention was neither to debate nor argue. I do not know your background and I was merely pointing out a few facts that may have escaped you. Sorry if you thought I was arguing. That was not my intent.
And for whatever its worth, the F-15E (and its many derivatives) retains all the air superiority capabilities of the F-15C/D. USAF has 224 F-15Es in service which they'll keep flying at least as long the upgraded C/Ds and likely longer. And FWIW, there will be many hundreds of block 40 and later F-16s remaining in service with USAF and many other nations for many more years to come. They are reasonably capable air superiority fighters. My conclusion is that IF a laser weapon is ever be made to fit into an F-35 or F-15 (a rather huge if, LM spokespeople notwithstanding), there will likely be enough F-35s and/or F-15s available to modify to perform that mission. And FWIW, I have no idea what mission a laser equipped F-35 would be tasked to perform. I don't even know if it would be air-to-air, air-to-ground, or something else entirely. It would literally be a new paradigm that I cannot fathom at present.