First, MSOCS & SS - T43562's post is dead on. Everyone looks hard-working and dedicated from the inside. I'm sure the Boulton-Paul production line was working flat out, night and day, delivering Defiants to our boys.
And as for the people walking away as converts from the classified briefings - I would be far more impressed if I hadn't had the same line from people trying to sell me the F-22. That was before LM realized it had far more upside in the F-35, and consequently (in 2009) backed up Bob Gates' decision to cut the F-22 line off (over the severed heads of AF leaders), assuring Gates that F-35 was on schedule. Since then, nobody's talked about the F-22's super-classified superpowers.
SS
I didn't realise Typhoon was allowed to make excuses, and Rafale too (5 years late according to Wikipedia but you may have better info?)
Talking about "excuses" is judgmental and unrealistic. I'm not saying either program was problem-free, but that you can't set the timescales alongside F-35 without considering the macro factors, not excuses, that delayed them. Germany's huge post-cold-war wobbly came close to freezing Typhoon in place, spending lots of money but making little progress except playing with the DAs.
France's PCW action was to retire their oldest fighters and upgrade M2000s and Super Etendards, deferring the need for Rafale. You need to be aware of these facts before you criticize Dassault's performancee.
Arguably...
I try to avoid this word because all too often it means "I just pulled this dubious assertion out of my ear."
...Eurofighter and Dassault really didn't do much in the way of advancing technology - all the RAF got in 2003 with the Typhoon was a twin-engine version of the F-16C of 1984.
In 2003, perhaps. Typhoon and Rafale today (according to what I have heard) offer a larger controllable/usable maneuvering envelope, the ability to carry large A2G and A2A loads at the same time, all-digital, automated and DRFM-based EW. Typhoon has supercruise and Rafale can haul a lot more than an F-16. Both have some degree of built-in RCS reduction that works in tandem with the EW.
LM made a pretty good effort at designing 3 different airplanes simultaneously including the world's first STOVL supersonic stealth fighter.
I'll agree with that. The original design is about as good as it could be, although its execution was not good (FW tried to insert new assembly tech while adhering to an unnecessary call for 9g, resulting in the 2003 weight crisis). The requirement they were working to was a disaster, resulting in the $150 million Marine jet, even with compromised goals for the USAF and USN.
To invoke Concorde again, it was a huge technical achievement and it met the requirement to haul 100 people from Paris to NY at Mach 2.