JTO - Some of the issues, as the aircraft enters service, will be reminiscent of the Scottish hell-fire preacher...
And those poor damned souls will cast their eyes up from those tormentin' flames to the Laird above, and cry out "Laird, Laird, we didna ken".
And the Laird himself will answer them, in the kindliest of voices, "Well, ye ken the noo".
Correct, six pylons, the gun pod (1000 pounds or so) and AIM-9Xs will consume most of the bring-back without trying too hard. But that's the result of trying to stuff ten pounds of stealth, supersonic and STOVL into an LHA/LHD-compatible five-pound bag.
Later Edit: The last sentence indeed implies great difficulties, as Engines stresses, and yes, it is a great achievement to do it at all. That does not mean that (at a strategic use-of-resources level) it was a good idea to try. Let alone to build global tacair recap around it.
Last edited by LowObservable; 11th May 2012 at 23:17.