I personally still prefer their JSF design to Lockheeds, and think the only reason the latter won out was because engineers on the ground were allowed to alter it slightly in between the VTOL and Mach tests (which strikes me as a huge foul that would of course never be possible in combat; "OK, now that we're airborne, enemy, we're going to land again and switch out some hardware so we can go supersonic.... " ) Losing that contract was a bitter pill for Boeing, because it meant they were out of the fighter manufacturing business, but they still get by supplementing their commercial aircraft with part time jobs like Predators and B2 bombers.

So, yeah, don't hack them off too much, Airbus....