Quote:Citation for that one?

 

Look up the Joint Strike Fighter program.  That's a good place to start, and it's result is the F-35.

 

Then look up the the CALF program. Now by all means the CALF program was a suggestion from Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas.  However, CALF was a part of the DARPA program (still following along?).  It didn't include plans to make it aircraft carrier capable (though the VSTOL capability would meet that requirement).  The initial thought was that it was to be a fighter jet (different than a ground attack aircraft).

 

The CALF program was merged with the JAST program which would eventually become the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.  The JAST program was started as a result of a recommendation by the DoD.

 

Now aside from all of these different acronyms and programs, my point of view, having worked in and around DoD for many years is that the overall idea came from what the government wanted.  If I was a betting man, I would bet that Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas did not come up with the initial idea.  The idea came from somewhere within DoD.

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