There is no way in this or any other world that the Royal Navy is going to go to the hassle & expense of using F-18's, new or old, or Rafales for that matter; the only reason the CVF's are being made 'easy' to fit cat n' trap' is so that they are easy to sell off, once the labour governments' committment to provide jobs has worn off.
I am not pro-labour by any means, but I do do think of history in my short span; wasn't it a certain M.Thatcher who all but sold 'Invincible' a fraction before the Falklands War ?
If you thought Bliar & co. were bad, wait 'till you see the Tories in action; savaged any good project 1960's onwards, ( I don't think the TSR2 was a great idea in hindsight, and just take a look at the thing without rose tinted glasses ).
It would be amazing if the CVF and F-35 both get through cuts, but the F-35B and British Fleet protection / power projection is useless without the carrier.
If we have to go ( relatively ) cheap, let's keep the carriers as they are multi-purpose, and, yes I've said it before, for Christ's Sake get some AMRAAM equipped Harrier 2+ !!!