When you are late, you lose competitive advantage and value, proven fact
Quite so. It would seem therefore that the Russian and Chinese competitors are at a disadvantage with 5th Gen answers to the F-22 Raptor.
The F-35 is a 5th Gen successor to the F-22, building upon what has been learned.
The competitive advantage you refer to appears...for the time being to have been retained. It is not being counted upon, but being built upon. What is not being contemplated is reliance on falling back on 4th Gen assets and simply upgrading them, particularly when potential adversaries continue to develop their 5th Gen efforts.