If you were in a mission where an F35 can be replaced with a Rafale or Gripen, then you never actually needed an F35 - an MRCA would be more than enough.
If you expect to have the capacity to immobilize an S-300 array in Isfahan, Volgograd, or Pyongyang, then an F35 makes sense - and hence why the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Turkiye, Israel, Japan, and South Korea are trying to procure the F35.
If you expect to have the capacity to immobilize an S-300 array in Isfahan, Volgograd, or Pyongyang, then an F35 makes sense - and hence why the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Turkiye, Israel, Japan, and South Korea are trying to procure the F35.