You are missing the point. The idea was to create an aviation industry ecosystem from scratch.
My personal opinion, and I will be as kind as possible, is that while the idea of an indigenous combat aviation program is commendable, and that it is difficult to bear the idea that one must import one's means of national defense, there are easier ways, in terms of technology and program management, to start such a program. Collaboration is usually the preferred path.
There is something called 'institutional inertia'. It basically mean that the longer an institution, a project, or a program is allowed to stagnate, resistance to changes increases. When there are a lot of money involved, unscrupulous people, from vendors to government officials, have a lot of vested interests in making sure that inertia remains.
Collaboration does not make the program immune from mismanagement, inefficiency, or corruption, but when there are multiple parties involved, especially when one of them have the necessary expertise, that expertise inevitably demands project/program goals and milestones and that they must be available for all to review.
Sorry, but while the idea is commendable, a single project that so far is 30 yrs in development should be scrapped. There must have been a lot of technological changes in those decades, must have had new program managers and overseers, must have had new government officials that are reasonably attentive and honest. Right ?
