Ken, you asked us to propose a 4+ gen aircraft as an alternative to the F35 for those nations only able to afford one aircraft type; well what about Typhoon, with its shiny new radar that from all accounts is going to be nothing short of frickin' badass. That surely would offer a cheaper, combat proven (sort of) alternative...plus its AA combat capabilities are known to be extremely capable.
I like the race car analogy, it puts the whole thing into a more real-world logic. Who in the right mind would commit to buying a £300,000 super car and stump up the cash when it turned out to be a golf GTI?