Comment by p_l

My point was not that it was a painful road, but that merging replacement of Harrier into what is ultimately a wildly different set of requirements ensured Lockheed win. Especially since the addition of VTOL was before any non-USMC operator got involved. UK only agreed to plan on continuing with STOVL design in 2002. Canada was not interested in -B. Of the non-USMC buyers of -B, there's only UK (decided in 2002), Japan, Singapore, and South Korea is trying to acquire some. All of those joined the project only after the design was finalized (except for all the bugs).

The entire pathway of F-35 in fact starts with Lockheed lobbying that their VTOL project could be stripped of some VTOL parts and serve as cheaper "addendum" to F-22, followed with merging the USMC-driven CALF with USAF/USNavy JAST.

As for ODIN, it's still done by the same people at Lockheed. And who used products from that division of Lockheed, does not laugh in the circus, as the polish saying goes.