[devNoise]

I think the Navy and Air Force could have shared version with a lot in common. The Marines want VTOL and I understand that feature is important to the Marines. Unfortunately, the VTOL requirements have force compromises in the design. Without VTOL, I believe the Navy and Air Force would have ended up with a platform that was more acceptable then what they are getting.

[CamperBob2]

In other words, nobody learned anything from the Space Shuttle program.

[Gibbon1]

That and there was some other 1950's era fighter that they tried to make dual use and eventually the Navy convinced congress to put a stop to it. Which they could because during the cold war it wasn't just about funneling money to congressional districts.

Me I think the F35 is the 21st century equivalent of a battle ship.