LO, I'll go with choice a) and reach back into time to recall how long it took the F-14 to get the better engines ...
And to quote a very bright Navy guy, when the SH was revealing itself to be a bit of a dragmaster: "The baby's ugly. But it's our baby and we will make the best of it." Which they did
I seem to recall a great hullaballoo in acquisition circles when the mods to the C/D that led to E/F were called so extensive that it was wrong to retain the same TMS for the new aircraft. (i.e. it 'wasn't an F-18 anymore' ...)
I also seem to recall that the Hornet's short legs in the early versions were one of the factors in the need to develop E/F. Memory a bit shady there, however. I do recall that people running the fighter ops in the Med (from a cruiser), who were used to the Turkey and its legs, had a hell of a time when an air wing of all Hornets showed up on the Coral Sea. (CV-43) Deck cycle time ... anyway, that's old news, and the Navy has adapted pretty well to the new bird.