Cheap stealth point-defence fighters?

This is something I’ve been mulling on for years; why aren’t manufacturers seriously pursuing cheap stealth fighters – stealth is thought of as expensive, and certain aspects in the F-22 and F-35 clearly are, but then those aircraft don’t fit the needs of most air forces(?).

Whereas the big Western air forces are all about long range multi-role air dominance blah, most pocket air arms operate in geographically constricted airspace with limited offensive strike needs. These air forces are currently being plied with excellent lightweight fighters such as the Gripen, Dolly-Parton F-16s, MiG-21 upgrades, FC-1 etc. But none of those choices are particularly stealthy.

In my vivid imagination I perceive a role in minor air forces for short range stealthy interceptors, using advanced GCI (as in multiple encrypted datafeeds providing real-time situational awareness without the need to have active sensors such as radar). The aircraft could be relatively cheap because it’d not need a radar – or perhaps have a small radar on a retractable pod for non-stealthy intercepts(?) – and use IRST. With a limited intercept role only two WVR missiles would need to be carried, thus reducing the design burden of internal weapons carriage.

Also the removal of the nose radar, in part to increase stealth without the cost of dialectic randoms, allows for a simple nose intake, gain simplifying design.

Overall the aircraft would have a performance envelope of say a MiG-21 or F-5.

The obvious precursor to this idea is the MBB Lampyridaee design:

I’m guessing that with modern fluid dynamics software, composites and choosing off the shelf tech the type could be relatively competitively priced against the likes of the F-16 and FC-1.

Here’s a sketch intended to be representative of the concept, not a serious design:

So, tell me everything I’ve got wrong 🙂