Re: "the cost of retrofitting was about the same as building another carrier!!"
"Your saying the better solution would have been to go for something that doesn't exist?"
F35B doesn't exist until it's finished! If the right decision was made ten years ago I have no doubt Navel Gripens would be in service now - well ahead of F35B.
"Patently isn't based on it being able to carry more Paveways than a Tornado, and the original French requirement resulting in the Rafale which is notably smaller than the Typhoon because once they'd left the programme there was no need to stick to their requirement."
Do you think the EFA project would rip up billions of euros worth of development and start afresh just because the French left the project? Really?