KenV you might well be right however when there is great excitement that a development airframe, with a test pilot on board and not G limited I would have thought, is said to be outclassed by a two seat F16 as I recall, I find comments about the agility and the like of a G limited F35 being superior to an F16 difficult to take at face value.
If an F22 pilot had taken a ride in a G limited F35 and said that it was "the best thing since sliced bread" I think many people would have been rather surprised, to say the least, possibly it is, I doubt that an F22 pilot would think so though.
Obviously the F35 needs to perform at or near to the specifications that it was designed, or has since been designed to, or there will be holes in many airforces and Royal Navy Carriers with no planes available.
My point was that both reports cannot be correct, it would just be reassuring to know where the project really was...