Would we be terrifically surprised to see carriers gain this ability at some point in the middle-distant future?
Phil - not a chance I'm afraid. That ship has literally sailed - the astronomical cost of converting QEC that was supposedly fitted, "for, but not with" cat and trap capability was much harder in the post-2010 SDSR reality when they realised it wasn't exactly as Aircraft Carrier Alliance had said. Cue multi-billion £££ costs for conversion which, crucially for this point, would have made the cost of F-35 wither into financial insignificance in comparison.
We are where we are. We need to stop crying over what could have been, accept we won't ever be a conventional carrier force and make F-35B and QEC work to our strengths: amazing people; amazing ethos's and total commitment. Get those right, stop the petty squabbles, roll your eyes at the Grenadian dinosaur and crack on.