Jeff thinks it's too expensive to develop the technology, leaving aside that the government developing such technology is for precisely that region: new technology is too pricey for the private sector to use and remain profitable. And as a converse to his and Bogey's point of view, I offer every single attempt to replace the F-16 by private industry here in the USA. All of it's overengineered and breaks down if you fart next to it, because the private sector can't develop new technology *and* remain private at the same time. The other flip-side of Bogey's argument is that railroads, canals, and the like were all done by the government because individually wealthy citizens weren't about to put good money into something that cost an arm and a leg to build and would provide distant, ultimate results. Good sense from a business POV, bad for technological development.