I don't know about you, but I think 32 lift engines, 12 propulsive engines AND a nuclear reactor to carry two nuclear bombs around is totally cost effective...
And passengers.
I realize I forgot "anti-gravity devices" in my laundry list of magical VSTOL devices.
Think of
Independance Day evil aliens shuttles that can beat the crap out of an entire fleet of F-18s - and later fly into space. In the second movie the recovering Earthlings have reverse engineered the tech.
"Antigravity devices". Yeah. That's really how those 1960's engineers thought of lift-jets. Special kudos to the Short PD-17 concept for the GOR-339 competition.
"Let's create a lift platform to carry the TSR-2 on its back. Even with the shape of a barn door, crux of the matter is that, with enough lift jets, it should be able to make a vertical hop - takeoff, throw away the bomber, return to a landing. Tadaaaam, VSTOL TSR-2 !"
By this metric, if a pig was strapped in place of the TSR-2, then the lift jet platform could make a pig fly. Also applies to ZELL, by the way. With enough rocket thrust, even a pig can fly. Main problem is landing.