Trans
Its been discussed a lot and I recall seeing a proposal (sketches) here on pprune a while back.
I'd be interested to see an elemental cost breakdown of the current aircraft- ie what % of cost is taken up by the airframe, engines, software, weapons systems etc. Doubt that'll ever be in the public domain however.
I'm not convinced by the fancy computer guiding the aircraft down in a howling force 8 though. I'd put the money into raising the cockpit, strengthening the fuselage, beefing up the landing gear and making whatever adjustments to the flaps deemed neccesary. As a laymen I'm taking out of my arse of course, but I'd hazard a guess those are the cheaper componants.
I see the F35B is still having budget and delay issues. I'm not entirely convinced the MoD has got the right deal over software "sovereignty" either. We have an unhappy history of taking the Yanks on their word. So the "capability holiday" stretches ever further into the future. Its almost a re-run of "no war for ten years".. and we all know what happened next.