Just to clarify, and I have said this before, the Invincible class can operate the F-35B It does fit on the lifts and into the hangar, and you can put the same number of Lightnings aboard as you can Harriers. The Lightning may be twice as heavy fully loaded but it most certainly is not twice as big! It’s not a Raptor after all. According to some officers from HMS Illustrious I spoke to a couple of years ago, the only limitations are that in rough weather, the Lightning would have to loaded onto the lifts diagonally as the clearance is only a few inches! Not a real problem in the grand scheme of things. Remeber that aircraft on a carrier spend most of their time between sorties on deck, not in the hangar. The hangar is for maintenance primarily, not storage. Also aircraft are only moved down to or up from the hangar whilst empty (ie no fuel or weapons) for safety reasons. Arming and fuelling is only carried out on deck because if there is going to be an accident, you would rather it happened in the fresh air than in the enclosed confines of the hangar. On deck you might lose the aircraft, in the hangar you might lose the ship…

The Invincible class are currently quoted as having a capacity of 22 aircraft, including helicopters. Those helos are Merlins and Sea Kings, which take up as much space aboard ship as a Harrier or a Lightning, so the mix of aircraft in the air group doesn’t really affect numbers. According to the RN, although more can be carried, the optimum number of Harriers they can operate is about 14, hence in the late 90s/ early 2000s they operated an air group of 7 FA2s, 7 GR7s, 3 SK AEW2s and 4 Merlins for ASW. A useful and flexible air group, screwed up by the premature retirement of the SHAR. Most Harrier Carrier operators tend to go with a 12 aircraft sqn at sea and the Invincible class would have no difficulty taking 12 Lightnings aboard. Therefore I do see the ships as having value as part of a deal to sell F-35Bs to a potential customer as a ‘Sweetener’, ie buy the planes and we’ll throw in the carrier for peanuts (and the cost of a refit).

Israel: Yes very funny! They can strike all their potential enemies easily from home soil as it is.
Pakistan: outside chance, depends on future relations with both India (going downhill) and he USA (new best friends)
Chile: Most likely option IMHO, they have a navy large enough to support an Invincible; remember her crew requirements are only about the same as 2-3 frigates (not including air group), an expansion I suspect they could manage if they wanted to.
India: If Vikramaditya falls to pieces on her delivery voyage, expect a call from the Indian MOD!
South Africa: They might want a Mistral, but they couldn’t run an Invincible, and it doesn’t fit the requirement (no dock or landing craft, though troop carry capacity is adequate).
Australia: Already have two Canberra’s on order.
Argentina: Even if the Falklands war hadn’t happened, they want a CTOL carrier anyway for their still active air group of Super Etendards and Turbo Trackers (always thoght they would have bought FS Clemenceau in the late 90s, but their lack of money meant the French saw no prospect of a sale and made no effort to maintain her after decomissioning in 97)

So two or three possibles but nothing particularly likely. Personally I want to see Invincible preserved at her birth place of Barrow (there is a campaign ongoing as we speak) and maybe one of the others preserved at Pompey. We shall see…