Nah. F-35 is intended to be the lower end, multipurpose, McNamara designed does everything at a lower price cousin to the high-end and expensive F-22. F-22 was intended to be the control ship for the lower end fighters - acting a local AEW when needed.
But that's the fault of the politicians and their ever-evolving shopping lists, rather than the planners or the engineers' talents and designs.
Once the people who have to live with it sit down at the table without the politicians there, most of those designs were made right and were effective.
True, the "purpose-built first and multi-purpose later" approach has almost always been the better way, but... politicians.
What more is there to say? Open any history book and the examples just pour out! It's crazy...
Anyhoo, I think we're at another crossroads, this time between piloted-aircraft or only UAVs flying in the first day+ modern battlefield airspace.
In that arena, the F-35 will need to be multi-purposed, multi-tasked and multi-talented to actually be "purpose-built" as the F-16 initially was or the A-10 still is.
Every design is a compromise and it's likely true that the F-35's not as nimble as and obviously not as svelte as the F-16 and F-22.
Instead she's a bit more ah... 'full-figured', but in a sexy, stealthy-Rubenesque kinda way you often see with some MMA fighters, rather than with runway models and beauty queens.
Personally, I think she's hot, but yeah, maybe I think she's just a little, teensy bit too heavy to make weight, and don't you dare tell her I said that!
Anyway...I think she has a lot of potential and we're all just barely getting to know each other.
Have some faith. I think it's going to be a very good and very satisfying, long-term relationship.