S41 - Nail on head. Even if the F-35B Transformer Jet remotely works, the CONOPS makes no sense.
One is the reason you mention: if the adversary is playing at a level where stealth is essential, is the President really going to send an MEU in without a carrier?
Related issue: the Navy "amphib" at the heart of the MEU carries troops, vehicles, equipment, helicopters & all, so it can only carry a limited number of fighters - not enough to mount a defensive CAP and carry out offensive ops at the same time.
The USMC has been deluding itself in this area for some time, with the BVR/AMRAAM "capability" on the AV-8B Plus - which has never remotely been used, and given the age of the radar probably amounts to nose ballast.
Tom L:
"The spin from about 10years ago was almost that the STOVL kit was a module that was one of few deviations from the 'common' JSF layout, and the rest would be straightforward."
So it was. But it's more accurate to say that the STOVL is the central version. The F-35A is the STOVL version with the lift system pulled out, a 9g airframe and a gun, and the F-35C loses the lift system and gets a different wing and tail.
And I would bet that the percentage of airframe parts that are common to all three versions is in the low single digits by now. The radome, perhaps.