The Harrier was pushing boundaries.
It sure was and it is only because of short sighted govt decision making that more Harriers weren't sold to foreign customers from the outset and that in Britain it was retired prematurely. It represented tremendous value for money as a military asset and in the later AV-8 models is an exceptional combat aircraft. The F-35 owes a heck of a lot to the Harrier and arguably it would be taking a lot longer without it.
everything considered, the F-35's development period is not that far out of whack when compared to other aircraft if this generation.
Yep, how long has it taken to get the Sukhoi PAK-FA into service?
"The T-50's maiden flight was repeatedly postponed from early 2007 after encountering unspecified technical problems. In August 2009, Alexander Zelin acknowledged that problems with the engine and in technical research remained unsolved.
[38] On 28 February 2009, Mikhail Pogosyan announced that the airframe was almost finished and that the first prototype should be ready by August 2009.
[39] On 20 August 2009, Pogosyan said that the first flight would be by year's end. Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head of the Moscow-based
Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies said that "even with delays", the aircraft would likely make its first flight by January or February, adding that it would take five to ten years for commercial production.
[40]
Flight testing was further delayed when Deputy Prime Minister
Sergei Ivanov announced in December 2009 that the first trials would begin in 2010.
[41] The first taxi test was successfully completed on 24 December 2009.
[42][43] Flight testing of the T-50 began with T-50-1, the first prototype aircraft, on 29 January 2010.
[44]"
From here:
Sukhoi PAK FA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Interesting article comparing F-22, F-35 and PAK-FA:
Air Combat: Russia's PAK-FA versus the F-22 and F-35