It's tradition. Some of the biggest turds in fighter-plane history have come out of big, bloated "one-size-fits-all" development programs (like the F-111). And

It's tradition. Some of the biggest turds in fighter-plane history have come out of big, bloated "one-size-fits-all" development programs (like the F-111). And interestingly a lot of the most capable and long-lived combat aircraft have come about through rogue programs and fly offs trying to remedy the problems of being saddled with planes that just didn't work well. The F-16, A-10, F-14, etc.