Yes. The F-35 is a very advanced aircraft, and it has had a great deal of development problems, but the same arguments where made when the F-16 program went seriously over-budget in the late '70s. I remember all the news drama and whining politicians, and I find it amusing, if a bit tragic, to see the same thing all over again today. What most people don't realize is that initial acquisition cost is not very important; what air forces and governments look at is life-cycle costs. An acquisition cost of $100 million, $200 million or $300 million becomes almost irrelevant when the impact of those differences on the full life-cycle costs is minimal. Operating contemporary fighter aircraft is hugely expensive; comparing the F-16 Block 60, F-18E and F-35 the differences in life-cycle cost are essentially all within a 10 percent variance.
The media, and consequently public opinion, has not been kind to the F-35, but neither were they to the F-16 back in the day. The F-16 has been the milk cow of the U.S. military aircraft industry since the 1980's with more than 4,500 units delivered, and still is with production continuing at least until 2016. I have no doubt the F-35 will match, or even exceed the F-16's success.
