None of these "kill the programme" articles seem able to suggest an alternative, so how helpful are they, especially if you look more than a few years ahead?
CM, equally to be fair, the paper recognises it is too late to cut the entire programme, and that it doesn't know the answer - what it asks is that alternatives be looked at.....
"Conclusion
Despite plans for the F-35 to replace most of America’s fighter and attack aircraft, the platform is ill-suited to cost-effectively counter near-peer foreign militaries. The aircraft lacks the maneuverability, payload, likely ability to generate sorties, and range to effectively compete with near-peer competitors despite its lifetime costs of $1.4 trillion.
The aircraft’s survivability depends largely upon stealth characteristics that are already at risk for obsolescence against adversaries who over the next 50 years will only continue to upgrade their radar and infrared detection systems. Given the critical failings of the F-35 program and its exorbitant costs, the aircraft should be regarded as a bad bet. As such, proceeding with the full program buy of nearly 2,500 units–or any large-scale buy that approaches that number–should be avoided.
It is not too late to change course. While the outcome of the DOD’s review of its total F-35 requirement is not yet clear, the program does not enter into full-rate production until 2019. Policymakers should take this opportunity to engage in debates about the future of airpower that have the potential to provide alternatives to a full-scale F-35 program.
Airpower analysts are outlining new options to help counter near-peer adversaries. While that debate is outside the scope of this study, those options include unmanned systems, prioritizing effective munitions over expensive aircraft, and returning to a quantitatively driven approach to airpower featuring large numbers of comparatively inexpensive platforms. While these are some options, Congress and DOD should begin a dialogue and study the full range and timetables, costs, and benefits of potential alternatives to the program.
Whether this opportunity to seriously reassess DOD’s commitment to the F-35 will be seized remains to be seen. But, by staying fully committed to the F-35 program, the United States is investing unprecedented resources in the wrong aircraft, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons.".........