LO, Good luck with the Lottery. If you crack that, the odds of completing the second bit of your double would probably shorten.
Yes, there appears to be a collective and conscious decision by all parties to ignore the basic logic that dictates that less money means fewer planes. The UK's official F35 requirement still stands at 138, which everyone knows is now a fantasy.
I think it's to do with the fact that LM's pricing is driven by production numbers which they calculate from official order numbers. So, if e.g. the UK cuts its official order to 50, the unit price goes up again. As it might for other customers too, or for us if they also officially cut their order. So everybody plays the game that they stand by their requirements. Interesting to see what happens if someone breaks ranks and makes a significant official cut or cancellation, as that will throw everyone else's numbers into another spin.
Quite how you can plan for a cost that is rising due to technical issues and delays, but is further complicated by changes in the timing or number of orders from other customers over whom you have little or no control, I have no idea. Which is neither here nor there of course, except no one else knows either. The biggest factor in this charade was the US decision to delay it's purchases. Their numbers are the really significant ones, so their deferral has the most potential impact on final price.
Tricky.