All valid points.
It seems to me that it would have been futile to can it at this stage.
The decision to continue was made 3 or 4 years ago, on the back of possibly the most stupid contract ever agreed by BAE. Note that no more contracts of that ilk will ever be signed again. Desperate times for BAE equalled low, low prices.
I think the major flaw was believing hand-made fuselages (before CAD/CAM etc.) would fit onto wings made by robots!
Good news is the mission system is supposed to be excellent - but then that was made by Boeing!
(lesson learnt!)