The times have changed. In the 1950s and earlier, the belief held by both contractors and the government was &quot;if you aren&#x27;t killing pilots, you aren&#x27;t testing hard enough&quot;. Now, the culture in flight testing is extremely risk averse. This is not completely bad, because we&#x27;ve greatly cut down on wasting human lives. But this has also contributed to longer project timelines and increased costs.<p>Lots of other things are also at play, of course. As electronics systems interface with each other in more and more complex ways, testing becomes more difficult. The principles of Gall&#x27;s Systemantics [0] come to dominate. Regulations and laws in the US have also multiplied, increasing costs even further.<p>With respect to the JSF project specifically, this is an awkward time. This ejection seat issue is the kind of thing that should be sorted out in the system design and development phase (the phase we are currently in). But SDD is winding down and little money (in defense project terms) is available for new testing. So money must be found, or new contracts must be written, making things take even longer.<p>I&#x27;m leaving out a lot in the interest of brevity. In summary: there are many reasons why this will take several years. Nothing in this industry is easy.<p>[0]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;wos-sqa-course.wikispaces.com&#x2F;file&#x2F;view&#x2F;JohnGall-Systemantics-+Summary-Laws.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;wos-sqa-course.wikispaces.com&#x2F;file&#x2F;view&#x2F;JohnGall-Syst...</a>