ORAC,
Surely a slip on your part - you forgot to mention all those many Typhoons the RAF has been supplied with.
"Many" Haaa!!
Not a slip. The Typhoon was bought primarily as a replacement for the AD force. (Remember when had 7 AD squadrons? I'm not even going back to the F4/Lightning/RAFG days).
Primarily designed as a Mig 29 killer, second daylight bombing role to replace the Jag before all its upgrades. So A-G was never a real design factor, not wanted by the other buyers and a late and therefore expensive add-on.
What's the F-35 excuse?
And even if it eventually meets the design capability - it doesn't answer my point about numbers. Quantity has a quality all of its own.