ColdCollation,
I don't think there are many that would dispute that a Super Hornet & UAV mix would be a very fine solution for the UK. But as we all know, military capability is but one of the factors in these sorts of decisions.
Buy Rhinos & almost every single penny you spend leaves the UK, and all the jobs go to Boeing and the US. But UK plc's participation in the JSF program as a Tier 1 partner means that buying F35s generates literally thousands of jobs in the UK - not just BAE, Rolls & Martin Baker, but dozens and dozens of Small & Medium-sized Enterprises all over the country.
As a result HM Treasury does very well out of it because UK suppliers are now embedded in a program to produce 3000-odd aircraft. If you assume everyone's going to buy the number of aircraft that are on the nominal order books today, for every pound the UK MOD spends on their 138 aircraft, something approaching 3 pounds will be spent/invested in UK plc and around 1.80 of that will go to HM Treasury.
Then there's the issue of maintaining the UK industrial base & retaining knowledge and skills etc.
Regards,
Single Seat, Single Engine, The Only Way To Fly