Engines,
Long time no see, but you eloquently state a very reasonable case and for that reason, it probably won't happen. A12 was the USN A6 initial replacement before the Bombcat and F-14 community saw the light and too late it was deemed to be a concept too far and it died an early death. Super Hornet kept the manned flight dream alive. Whatever Tempest is dreamed to be, it won't be a Carrier aircraft as too many people still regard carrier aviation as a false economy. QE class should have had a proper angled deck and catapult launch system, the payload benefits are huge and recovery system speaks for itself. I speak from practical experience of operating from CVN, it should have been the solution from the outset for QE, but UKPLC bottled it!
I hope I'm wrong, but just don't see the MOD being logical in it's approach to this.
Splash