The third view is that they are sticking to their story - there will be a competition for a new fighter - but with no date given for a decision, lots of time to decide, certainly not before one of the options, the F-35, needs to have achieved full operational service to establish its actual capability.
In the meantime, the F-18E/F/G is being procured as a follow on order to the current fleet as an interim option to fill the operational need whilst utilising the current type experience with minimal engineer/pilot training etc - in exactly the same way that the RAAF is doing.
"See, we are just doing what they are doing, nothing underhand to see here, move along folks....."