This aircraft was designed to meet a 1946 requirement for a jet-powered penetration fighter. One example of this was the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo. There are many other weapons that have been cancelled at the prototype stage before costing untold sums of money or worse, lives. Duds like the Attacker, the Amiot 143 “multipurpose aircraft”, the Davy Crockett nuclear mortar and NEARLY EVERY Italian armoured vehicle of WWII prove that just because something seems useless doesn’t always mean it doesn’t get made. Sadly, there are lots of cases throughout history where bad ideas, or an inability to see what’s coming in the near-middle term, have been given physical form. When this situation occurs in the realm of national defence, however, the costs and inefficiencies can be staggering. Heck, look at the typical “mid-life crisis” sports car purchase: just because you want to feel young and sporty again doesn’t mean the kids and their hockey gear are going to fit in that Viper you can’t afford! There are lots of examples where thinking of what you want NOW results in problems later. The other two, though, it’s harder to say.) I’m sure there are a huge number of people, not just kids, to be fair, that don’t think a whole lot about life cycle management, support costs and potential future operational requirements when they ask for things. Sure, every kid wants a puppy, or a pony, or a pet dinosaur, but what are they supposed to DO with it once they get it? (Clearly, you would ride the dinosaur to school and impress your friends, so maybe that’s a bit of a bad example.

Know what you want before you ask for it.

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