Bill Gunston remarked more than once on the tendency of both Russian & US industry to put new aircraft that weren't fully developed or bug-free into the hands of the military and then use the "Wow this is an AWESOME aircraft" feedback to bulldoze ahead.................
It seems to me that "into the hands of the military" and "into the hands of a combined test force" with very clearly and precisely defined test parameters are two
very difference things.
And it seems to me that operational military pilots saying "Wow this is an AWESOME aircraft" and "the test folks are bought and paid for stooges of LM" are two
very different things. And if there is no difference, then all the folks on this forum singing the praises of the Lightning, Phantom, Tornado, Typhoon, Harrier, etc etc are all bought and paid for stooges of their respective manufacturers. Surely not?!
You are welcome to disagree on all points.