Am I the only one missing the point, when I say it now makes strategic, political and financial sense to wait until the mid 2020s to buy it? The first USAF squadron isn't going to go operational until 2018 (assuming the flight test programme is flawless from now on, which it definitely wont be).
Why can't we just buy some F18s and a few more Typhoons at a much lower cost and guarantee ourselves a capability for 2020 rather than sacrificing everything for what will, let's face it, be a display jet in 2018?
Purchase the F35 when it's in full rate production, some capabilities on it actually work and the airframe snags have been overcome... is this sensible, or just lunacy?