Will the USMC want to pay for tank certification, instead of simply piggy-backing off the USAF?
Would a USN tank clearance on the C-model, with its very different wing, read-across?
Who knows.
But tanks or no tanks, it's becoming less and less like the right choice.
How about the other issues, Orac?
AGAIN:
No internal PWIII.
No external ASRAAM.
No Brimstone.
No ALARM.
No external tanks.
No Storm Shadow for years.
No ITAR waiver, so no STFs, SEMs, and little chance of UORs. Doubt as to the viability of autonomous repair/support.
Downgraded LO characteristics and capabilities.
A programme that the US GAO believe to be a huge risk, which is being flown before key technologies are mature or in place.
Unit price for the USAF already more than $100 m.
Not a hope of getting the aircraft into frontline squadron service before 2017. (Think GR7A/9/9A can last that long without new back ends?)