Finally, to echo Engines - whatever happens with F35, getting a STOVL aircraft to sea for what will probably be only the third distict type operationally in fifty years is no mean achievement. That (and the other elements in the wider programme) deserve respect technically, whatever one thinks about the wider programme management.
I have to agree that ,with all the problems faced by the JSF program, we don't always seem to give enough consideration of the technical achievements made by the engineers and all others involved of what is undoubtedly a massively ambitious program.
Having said that, I also truely admire what people achieved, technologically speaking, with programs like Concorde or even earlier the Hughes flying boat.
That doesn't mean they where good ideas to begin with, for their intended use they where pretty much either useless or overly complicated and expensive.
Because it is the only available option for the US , the JSF program will be a commercial succes and I'm sure most military organizations will make it work and use it as the powerful weapon it must be.
But at what cost?
I'm not only referring to the dollar/pound cost, but also the inevitable loss of possible manufacturers (most notably over here, in Europe) that are able to build new fighters independently, the loss of quantity of fighters just to add a very debatable increase in quality, the loss of sufficient amount of flying time because of excessive flighthour cost ,eg; just look at the latest intentions made public by Norway to decrease the number of allocated flying hours for the JSF (and numbers ordered BTW).
Last but not least, and it comes back as an issue time and time again, 1 type of fighter that has to do all the work for different services in a different role is a bad idea, it is a recurring trap the military and the politicians seem to step in every single time.
It adds needless complexity in the beginning of its carreer and makes it very hard in the future to both upgrade without loosing most of its commonality with the rest of its users.
As a Belgian I have become convinced that we will also go for this LM adventure solely because the Dutch are involved so deeply and we are effectively building up 1 common military between Belgium, Luxembourg and
the Netherlands ( see comments of Hans Hillen and P de Crem ).
We'll be glad to have 68 planes to divide between the 3 of us reducing us ever further into an ever more insignificant force, a(n even bigger) joke in the NATO alliance.
The budget is still big, compared with other poorer nations, but nonetheless under severe strain and will remain so for some years to come, programs like the JSF are the last thing we need now, they undermine our ability to field sufficient numbers of both well trained troops equipped with weapons in sufficient numbers.
last but not least,
Just look at the last 20-30 years and what this whole stealth saga has done to the biggest and most powerful military in the world , the F117, B2, F22, complex combatships and others , are all technological marvels by themselves but both operationally and/or financially complete nightmares ,all used in heavily reduced numbers and very challenging to upgrade to newer standards later in their carreers.
¨[end of another useless rant]