Must inject a slight word of caution on the "French did it alone" idea.
I think it more correct to say that they know what they want to do with their wonder jet to make it comparable withTyphoon if they can get an export customer to foot the bill.
To integrate all these system of systems and certify them to internationally agreed standards is a huge and expensive task. Sure you can do it on the cheap but not if "product liability" and "duty of care" are part of your culture and vocabulary.
Furthermore, achieving this with "acceptable pilot workload" adds another dimension altogether.
Trust me I know
T