Have the people who call the shots even flown a front line jet in a combat zone? I don't mean to sound cheeky, and I mean no disrespect to the personnel who call the shots, whoever they are - I don't know them.
One of the fundamental human rights is the right to self defence, so why should anybody deny pilots that right when they have no missiles left and the cannon is their last line of defence? Or would be their last line of defence.
It just seems to me that those who call the shots over equipment and how it should be designed do so from the safety of their nice, warm offices in Whitehall while men and women put their lives on the line using that equipment.