Originally Posted by
Less Hair
Why didn't the Swiss test the F-35C USN carrier variant but the F-35A Air Force version? They have very high and short fields and limited hangar space inside their tunnel hangars. So a heavy duty gear and foldable wings might come in handy? And the F-35C got reworked and updated.
The F-35C hasn't had any mods that the other variants haven't (none that are applicable to land-based operations at least).
It might be more suitable for some of the reasons you give, but it is more expensive.