Not being a Military type, I can see, from a commercial aspect, it makes damned good sense to have commonality with your Allies.......the crunch comes,of course,when some party falls out with the rest and is lumbered with a load of kit that they may-or may not be able to support themselves.....OTOH, they have intimate knowledge of their former allies' kit and capabilities Having seen how the forces continue to horse-trade, squabble, empire-build and prevaricate among themselves, it's not surprising that policy and procurement are the shamble they are and have been for many a year.
Development of 21st. CenturyMilitary kit is far beyond sensible financial and time constraints for any small country.
The rising cost of fuel made Concorde into a Vanity project.
Yes, we can be proud of what was achieved,technically, As a passenger-carrying commercial aircraft,it was a total economic disaster.
So, looking back, Blue streak, TSR2 and other cancellations were probably a good thing.........but I'm still mystified, why we jobbed -off our Harrier fleet to countries who continue to successfully use them for their intended purpose.