Lost to the F-16? You better have a closer look at history, the F-16 only just won the USAF fly off but did not even get off the drawing board for the Navy, turning it into a carrier capable aircraft was considered way to hard. The basic configuration might be 30 years old (have another look at it's history, it's more like 40) but it has been redesigned, has new engines and avionics and is proven to work. And the best thing about it is it's not French!
