AW,
Apologies, I was attempting to be flippant, and all of the passionate Carrier and F-35 threads and posts are well out of my comfort zone, experience and at times interest. I personally see lots within the light blue singing the praises of Typhoon, but very few that look forward to or are enthusiastic about Lightening II.
I was merely trying to highlight that irrespective of our individual passion and the bat and balling of arguments for and against certain options on this web site, that if the politicians really did want a threat led, long term SDSR then any sacred cows, red lines or subjects which (because of our individual Service background) just don't seem right, then we should embrace open and transparent discussions.
Without sounding too altruistic, short term pain (to us on the shop floor) for long term gain (for the nation)?