Ken,
AS we know the F35 is not out of the gate yet however in 2009 a LM Press Release said : -
"While we acknowledge schedule and cost pressures in the development phase of the program and are working directly with the Office of the Secretary of Defense to resolve them, program trends are very positive overall, and have us on path to meet each of the services’ F-35 Initial Operational Capability Requirements beginning in 2012.
"We are on track to field the F-35’s tremendous capabilities to our war fighters and recapitalize our nation’s aging fighter fleet. The program enjoys solid funding support from the Office of Secretary of Defense and Congress. The president’s budget recommendations reflect DoD’s commitment to international partnerships and common defense solutions."
Some Experts Warn Of 'Death Spiral' for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (excerpt)
The above suggests to me that in six years the IOC has slipped 3 years, after having had basically unlimited amounts of funding, a slightly different set of rules of the game from that for the Euro Canards.
It may not be out of the gate yet but it should haver been out of the gate and should be in front line service with Block 3F software, let us forget that it should be cheap to run and cheap to purchase.
One would have hoped that having had an extra three years at least to polish the product up for its IOC that it would be gaining plaudits from all comers, sadly it would seem that this is not the case.