Mr. Lee,
That was the Harrier mafia that was all JSF, along the lines of the Phrog mafia in USMC rotary wing. Building the MEUs around the -46 centric composite squadron with the embarked Harrier bubbas gave both communities more pull/influence etc. than either should have. That is not only my opinion but others who were “Super MEU” augments, Herk, Hornets, and Queers.
The other factor was abortion of the APG-65 installation into the Harrier and the Harrier community getting an inferiority complex after telling 1st USMC Hornet drivers, then USN Hornet and Tomcat drivers and finally USAF Eagle drivers what they had to teach them on using a radar wasn’t applicable to them as the Harriers could drop a notch or two of nozzle.
At the time frame DCS(A) was doing a traveling road show on how great the JSF was going to be. The promises undersold the sensor/electronic ability to a large degree (just from memory it was to be evolutionary improvements) and really oversold the airframe performance (6g level turns at max weight at any altitude from SL-40K’).
The JSF is what we have. Was it extremely stupid to get “one” aircraft to fly three very different profiles? Is it smarter (and cheaper) to design for a task then modify to other tasks as technology and knowledge increase?
S/F, FOG