Peter W - Not so. All customers buy via the USG, and under USG terms the LiftSystem is P&W's responsibility under its prime propulsion contract. RR's contracts come from P&W.
SS - As I understand it from a recent conference presentation, the idea is that the two operational squadrons in the currently planned 48-aircraft batch will both be fully trained for at-sea and land operations.
This implies that to keep current (and carrier ops as you know well are much more than landing and taking off) you would need to maintain one squadron on the carrier at all times. You would probably want to train occasionally with 18-24 jets aboard, if the idea is to keep that capability as an option. So, a lot of STOVL operation.
The Marines, by contrast, plan to have 340 aircraft. The normal complement aboard an LHA/LHD is six. Today there are eight Wasp LHDs in commission + the obsolete Tarawa-class Peleliu - the total is planned to rise once the second America-class is commissioned. Moreover, amphibs today don't always deploy with jets and this is likely to continue. Since austere-base ops are a
PR job, this makes it unsurprising that the Marines estimate that only 10 per cent of ops will be STOVL.