I still cannot accept that any system which requires each pilot to be fitted with a $1M helmet is viable.
Perhaps those who signed up to the Lockheed black hole of funding weren't aware of this?
Short of a Romulan cloaking device, 'stealth' will always be vulnerable to advances in detection systems. Passive detection of the presence of an air platform is something of an unknown technology - if the atmospheric disturbance caused by an aerofoil can be detected by advanced technology, 'stealth' won't be worth a cent.
Skillful use of their systems by Yugoslav SAM operators downed an F-117 using their 'obsolete' SA-3 system - and it is rumoured that a B-2 has also been hit by AAA fire following detection with long wavelength radar.
Is 'stealth' worth its astonishing cost? Frankly, I doubt it.
Unless the UK changes its mind yet again, there seems little alternative to the F-35B for the new carriers, although Rafale's STOBAR capability merits closer study. But there are several alternatives to the F-35A (e.g. F-22) and F-35C (e.g. Rafale / F-18E/F/G).