In the UK, if one forgets (thankfully) about BAe, the only company with design and construction capability is Bombardier. In the light of the Boeing contretemps, whether the government might not think in terms of setting Bombardier the task (if they were willing to undertake it) of designing our own future attack/bomber. We've done all this in the past, in fact leading the technology of the day. There is fundamentally no reason why we couldn't do it again, and no reason why we couldn't afford it. The only reason that I can think of to prevent this is Bombardier's willingness to take the step of hiring extra design staff and doing some upgrade training of shop floor staff. The electronics factor is major, but again, I believe it is not outside our capabilities. Always provided that a very hard-headed approach was taken by MoD on schedules and budget .... and probably keeping senior service staff out of it after a given point of design. I realise the mere suggestion will cause lots of sucking of teeth and shaking of heads. However I have advised government on a number of high tech projects in the past and I believe that the many hurdles can be jumped. The only pause I have is whether Bombardier would take the leap and could raise the necessary finance (although there is no reason why the government wouldn't foot the R & D bill at least initially or in part).