S41 -
That's an important connection.
Right now, the F-35A on the one hand, and the B/C on the other, are in different situations.
The F-35A is the least expensive model and is the most badly needed, because the USAF ordered its last F-16s in 2001 and its last F-15Es in 1992. Terminating the A-model would not only annoy and embarrass US allies, but would quite likely cause the fall of some governments. Which would put the Pentagon leadership on Ms Clinton's
list, and trust me, you do not want to be there.
The F-35C, however good it is, is not quite the same, because the USN is the only customer and has a modern fighter in production, with untapped improvement potential. The USN can wait.
So that's why the question of the strategic importance of the USMC F-35B to a joint-force campaign is critical. What does it do that you otherwise could not do? What does it do that would be harder and more expensive to do without it? And the answer has to be at a joint-force level - it's not just that it lands on an LHA/LHD or a 3000-foot strip.
What if the answer is "not much"? That the B is additive, not critical, and enables few unique options in likely scenarios?
Hypothesize that the B and C are either terminated or have their IOC kicked into the mid-2020s, under budgetary pressure.
The Pentagon saves a boatload of money over the next 10 years.
Large parts of the CV community utter a collective "w00t". The CV Navy can take the SH to the next level, and the CNO still has change to spend on ships and standoff weapons.
Boeing, GE and Raytheon are happy, and the US has another strong competitor on the international market and a healthier industry base.
The Marines are unhappy, but can actually stretch their sea-based Harrier fleet through the 2020s as long as they replace their Classic Hornets with the SH. And if we're talking about CAS and NTISR in support of an MEU doing a big NEO (noncombatant evacuation op) in war-torn Bongoland, that's all you need.
The JSF program can restructure around one flight-test program at EAFB, and standing up one service's squadrons at one set of bases.
LockMart still has the world's biggest fighter program. Not quite as big, nor as monopolistic, and the UltraBug might pick off a customer or two, but on the plus side it can only have a positive effect on the pace of the program, bringing closer the date at which it becomes a massive cash cow.
And what about the UK? Don't forget that Sean Stackley, the USN acquisition boss, warned the UK against switching back to the F-35B. So if the plug does get pulled on the B, the US will respond to the screams from Whitehall with "TS, dude, we warned you."