Through-life costs of new gen aircraft

I know this is an incredibly difficult question to answer, but let’s try guys.

Now we’ve all heard all these fantastic estimates for how much the F-22, Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen, blah blah blah will cost per unit, but what about through-life costs? Now, the F-22 may be twice as expensive – per unit – as the Typhoon, but if the cost of supporting the aircraft through its life is significantly lower that the Typhoon, or if it’s planned lifetime is significantly longer than that of the Typhoon (thus prolonging any need for replacement), after, say, 25 years of service, it may come in a lot cheaper than the Typhoon, or at least similar (I’m using Typhoon here just as an example, feel free to compare Typhoon to Rafale, Rafale to Gripen etc. etc. etc. :)).

So guys, any thoughts?

MinMiester