Jackonicko,
"And I can't think of any other US supplied platform (with the exception of the C-17, where the terms of the lease would complicate mattters) which we could not modify if required, and for which we do not enjoy the level of operational sovereignty we require."
I'm not sure this is completely true... AWACS radar upgrade? ASTOR MTI/SAR radar codes...? C-130J avionics/glass cockpit? DIRCMS suites? The Nimrod MRA4's mission system is even built by Boeing...
There's a whole load of US stuff that if we want to make major changes we're going to have to go to the OEM or invalidate the warranty.
Chinook Mk3
being a case in point... - You can mod it yourself, but at your own risk....
Plus thanks to lean and just-in-time delivery could not the US just have us over a barrel by restricting say, key C-17 spares, if we ever went to war and they disagreed?
"Sorry, UK, we'd love to help you out, but there's been a fire in the factory producing the spare widgits you need - current batch all destroyed, I'm afraid....."
"What's that - you're NOT going to invade Hawaii? Wow, its your lucky day - we've just found a box under the table...."
The key for JSF is what will the Israelis do (at the moment they are honking a bit about ingretating their kit) but I can't see that they will not be allowed to integrate Derby, Python and all their specific EW black-boxes that go in the latest F-16s...