Sorry all , didn't read the whole thread in dept therefor this question might sound a bit silly or already answered before but some of all this makes no sense.
Even if the Carrier costs 1.2billion£ more to convert to CATOBAR, doesn't that
still make the whole package more attractive nontheless?
50 F35B vs 50 F35C's would still mean a price difference of about 2 billion $ in
favor of the C version, let alone the undoubtedly higher maintenance costs for the B and the more limited growth potential of the B (weightmargins already paperthin as quoted).
Besides the better commonanlity with both the USNAVY and MN for the C version, a CATOBAR can take Hawkeyes and Greyhounds while the Skijump just doen't allow for such aircraft, let alone all the other good reasons to take the C over the B (lower wingloading, more range, less complexity,... )
Maybe (undoubtedly) I'm not seeing the whole picture clearly but the whole
extra EMALS costs seem like a mooth point