Hence the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) report contained a lot of not so flattering things to say about the F-35.
And when that happens it is
not because the DT&E folks are bought off stooges of the manufacturer. It happens because the contract requirements that the manufacturer designed and built the aircraft to were flawed and did not meet real world operational needs. If that is true of the F-35 (a big IF at this point), there's a lot of nations to blame for providing flawed requirements.