RonO,
You keep carping on about 'Design Rights'. That's not what's being asked for. We just need sufficient software access and tech transfer to be able to service, support and repair the jet in service, and to integrate our own weapons without having to wait for Lockmart's timetable or to pay its fancy prices. This is hardly unreasonable.
"Extra cash to bring early frames up to latest standard." R1 and R2 upgrades are already included in the headline programme cost and represent small beer anyway. EF GmbH is doing the six T1 Austrian jets from its own pocket.
"All the partners could just agree to change the rules." They could, but with two of the partners needing every jet they've ordered, it's unlikely, and penalties would be imposed. I've always been told that it would be cheaper to take Tranche 3 and then dismantle them with a JCB than to cancel unilaterally.
"JSF TLC twice Typhoon's? I don't think so." Typhoon's through life costs are contractually under-written. Typhoon isn't a maintenance heavy stealth fighter. Look at the comparison between F-16 and Gripen.
The JSF price, quoted before the $5 Bn weight problem, before the US cut more than 500 JSFs from its order book, before the GAO highlighted an 80% increase in development costs, was $59 m for the F-35B. No serious commentator believes that those costs are remotely achievable. Even if they are, the UK will pay that, plus R&D equal to $24 m, per jet. That's $83 m.
Most sensible people expect the F-35 unit production cost will be closer to $85 m than $55 m. Interestingly, the first five jets cost $870 m - a unit price (excluding R&D) of $174 m........
The unit production cost of every Typhoon, and the marginal cost of every additional Typhoon over and above the UK 232 aircraft total is a solid, achieved, virtually guaranteed $84 m. And we get 25% of that back in taxes, we maintain a better balance of payments, we maintain more skilled jobs, and we're part of a programme that will earn us more in export orders than our share in JSF.
And we get an aircraft we can maintain, repair and upgrade as we see fit, with better air-to-air capability than JSF, and able to carry the weapons we want and need.
The Day One mission is best carried out by TLAM and stand off, and for everything else, Typhoon's a better bet than JSF, even if the technology transfer is sorted, and even if the GAO's worries about development risk are proved unfounded.