A little more truth required I think:
The JSF aircraft will be procured by the RAF and the operational duty holder chain will be RAF. A deal has been struck to share the cockpits equitably, with the RAF getting the majority share.
The RN will rightly press for embarked supervisory roles, but they will probably have to share these with the RAF as the Force will not be big enough to grow sufficient FAA FW critical mass.
It is true that the RAF will have to step up to the plate – so start painting those cabins light blue inside! The RN aircrew in the US now are there to keep the FAA FW cadre alive (at a feed in rate of 2 per year!) as much as it is to grow cat and trap skills. The RAF want their share of the USN slots and are currently letting the RN take the lion’s share – small issue of how they are being paid for needs to be resolved!
With a significant distance away from full operating capability and the small size of the Force, it means that the RAF will be able to take the role on in a more measured way because of its fast jet strength in depth. The lack of RAF crews in USA is not an indication of reluctance to partake, but one of FAA survival instincts and necessity. Anyway, we bought the aircraft to deliver airpower away from the deck, not to be a vehicle for a macho landing contest (as deck ops so often become).
The more important issue here is how long is Defence, the RN sailors, HMG and the UK public going to be bombarded by FAA propaganda. We can’t afford to c**k this up (it has enough problems without infighting), so some of the old and bold who are peddling nonsense (regurgitated by certain posters here) about RAF intent need to let the generation who will have to make this work get on with it – together on board!
Those who are "leaking" (untrue) stories of Rafale and F18 have two agendas: to try and deflect the overrun costs of the whole programme, and/or to try and steal a march for FAA ownership. The fact is the F35 (once it is sorted out) brings far more capability than the “cheap” alternatives ever will – we would have some serious capability gaps elsewhere that F35 was planned to fill. The Treasury might also have a view, as we will make more money through the F35 work share (that is dependent on our tier 1 participation in the programme) than the costs of the programme by a number of factors. We could throw them away and still make on the deal, but only if we buy them first. So all those who are peddling the alternatives need to come clean about what it would do to our UK sovereign industrial capability, GDP and our resultant tax bills.