Occasional Aviator,
I get the gist of your post, contacts like that ( I'm assuming you are who you say you are, no offence ! ) - are worth a lot more than press releases or'leaks'.
I will say though it seems that 'just fitting catapults arrestors / barriers' has been wilfully made to sound like a cheap 5 minute job; wheras it's really serious, Brunel or Captain Kirk type engineering & costs...
One thing I haven't personally seen mentioned is the operational weather envelopes of say F-35 B versus C, though of course both will have wonder-kit guidance.
The limitations mentioned on the 'B' do sound like a bother though, but then it's still in development, look at the P-1127...