FodPlod - That's an interesting comparison. I'm not aware of the "revisionism" surrounding Operation Chastise - but even from reading Brickhill it was apparent that a handpicked squadron was effectively annihilated and that the weapon technology was never used again.
More often (in fact, over and over and over again) F-35 supporters like to cite the early criticisms leveled at weapons that turned out to be successful. The favorite example is the F-16, which was zinged early in its career for radar and AAM limitations compared with competitors (F/A-18) and potential adversaries (eg MiG-23).
One big difference is that the criticisms were acknowledged and addressed and corrective action was undertaken - by 1980, the F-16C/APG-68 was well under way, and AMRAAM was a live program with requirements including compatibility with the tip rails of the F-16. Another (more luck than judgment) was that the AIM-9L/M turned out to be much more useful than most people had predicted, and filled the gap until AMRAAM turned up (behind schedule).
From my recollection of talking to GD people back in the 1980s, they felt that the F-16 would have had a much shorter career were it not for the C/D. Israel was the only customer for new A/Bs outside the US and the EPAF four, and the F-16 lost the big Australian and Canadian orders.