Furthermore, l.o. techniques help to "break the kill chain": even if the l.o. aircraft is detected, it cannot be easily engaged by a fire control radar or a missile radar seeker.
On the other hand, stealthiness is not panacea: stealth aircraft are not invincible, they are just detected at shorter distances. Generally, the application of l.o. principles incurs a considerable cost, both in procurement as well as for maintenance. Actually, the l.o. approach is a trade-off among cost, stealth capability and operational performance, i.e., maneuverability, amount of weapons and fuel, etc. The point is that a few fighters with l.o. characteristics but with inherent operational constraints will not necessarily prevail against more fighters with not so l.o. characteristics but better operational capabilities.