If the F35 Flying Pig is so great why have the USAAF just requested money to buy advance F15s?
I don't think the USAF has requested the F-15X at all, I think it is being requested for them by lawmakers who may or may not represent areas such as St Louis (no connection, of course).
Has the UK/MOD has been sold a ludicrously expensive herd of pigs which further needs two white elephants from which to launch them?
Cause and effect - the F-35 doesn't need the two carriers to launch them, the two carriers need the F-35 to be launched from them. If we want fixed-wing carrier aviation and don't have the resources or inclination for conventional 'cat and traps', then the F-35B is the only game in town whether you like it or not.