@MC
If you view the F-35 through a cynical and hateful lens of doom
As I don't, the rest of your petulance is ignored.
It doesn't require cynicism to see what the JSF impact on acquisition was while I was still on active duty. It had impact on programs and projects I was directly involved with. I got to do some small amount of work on the Joint decisions regarding bases for initial f-35 training, but I'd rather not resurrect that painful period in my life. The program has lumbered along and the bird is up in the air ... progress is being made. What hasn't changed is how JSF acts as the 800 pound gorilla in the acquisition of weapons systems. Why? Because it costs a lot?
Is it worth it? We don't know, yet. (I hope it is, for a lot of reasons).
Similar impacts arose with, for example, F-18 E/F and some of the USn submarine programs. Bit ticket items do things to finite (even if quite large in absolute terms) defense budgets.
The F-18 has over time shown to be a good platform. It received a non-trivial amount of criticism during its development and its early years in IOC. It is no surprise to anyone who has been around a while to see JSF getting its share of criticism ... it comes with the badge and the winning of the award ... over a decade ago.
So, what do you get for your money in the F-35?
We don't know
yet.
What we do know is that it is expensive.