I've had to eat some humble pie and moderate my assessment of the F-35. It still does have a lot of issues, for sure, but it turns out if you divide an eye wateringly large number by another impressively large number, the result can be a lot better than I thought it would be.

It's lot more about operational costs and project deliverables than plain sticker shock, and it is turning out to be a capable platform.

The sticker price is competitive but the cost per flight hour and the availability factor is pretty horrifying. Factoring in the cost of flying and the availability makes the Grippen about half the cost.

I wonder if the flight hour cost of F 35 includes the maintenance it's undergoing when it's not available.