No BVR capability before the AMRAAM, which has been carried however in since1998 by some Block 15OCU's (during the KLu deployment to Villafranca in the Yugoslavian conflict) untill the introduction of the MLU later during that year. The OCU's APG-66 radar lacked the mid-course update capability of the later APG-68 of the MLU, so AFAIK the effective range of the AMRAAM must have been halved.
The capabilities of the F16 with dumb bombs were relatively good (winner of NATO bombing competitions in Scotland) and of course there were cluster bombs, so, apart from the stand-off capability, the need for an expensive very precise weapon was not that great during the Cold War. Smaller conflicts like in Yugoslavia changed that and the fear of collateral damage meant new requirements.
The TV and infrared Maverick had been tested on the KLu F16's during the '80s but not ordered as the use of the weapon required very specialised training which would be taking up too much time and interfere with other tasks (like A2A.......)
During Deliberate Force in Yugoslavia in1995, a requirement was formulated after all, but there was no possibility to obtain the AMG-65G at such a short notice, so the AMG-65D was used as from October 1996 instead. During Allied Force 32 of them were fired with great effect and it is still in use, though the combination of Lantirn pods and LGB is preferred and in use since 1999 (probably considerably less costly in use)
Hou doe,
Derk