About the pictures;
That's not a Cutlass but a Skyray in photo number 2.
The Cutlass had also some tailhook problems but because it had a massively
high frontgear and a high AoA when landing combined with a redesigned hook that was considerably further away from the rear LG compared with the F35C
it eventually was able to land on the Carriers.
The F35C's hook is indeed too close to the rear gear, even closer than the
unmanned X-47, but it is not a showstopper in the longrun, a redesigned hook
(the actual catching part) is already being manufactured giving it a higher probability of trapping the wire, also a hook that pivots the other way around
is possible giving automatically a much greater distance without needing a major strenghtening of the frame while making it possible to make it fully covered by RAM plating better integrating it into the plane improving its Stealth characteristics also.
All this will still leave you with a weighty 7.5G plane that is very complicated
to maintain, won't have a lot of the promised features (Helmet, etc...) that made it so much better on paper, with reduced visibility from the cockpit (compared with all of its predecessors like the F16,F15,F18, AMX) which is worse in real dogfights, has a weaker cannon (vs 30mm on the EF) with a longer startup time, a big thirsty 43000lbs engine which is also very loud BTW
I sincerely hope that some of the customers come to their senses, certainly
the British who seem to be too willing to just give up on their ability to design a complete fighter from the ground up themselves.
The EF, contrary to what many people seem to believe, was and still is a very
good fighter which has its fundamentals right, their is also a lot of potential to improve upon it.
Stronger engines (up until 40% more power) and TVC, a potentially top of the line Radar (CAESAR) with a wide field of view, something missing on other AESA'S, and the continuing implementation of new and better systems.
Even the NaVAL Typhoon could have been a good thing, as it is it is already
very resistant against the saline environment and has a very strong frame needing only limited strenghtening (340kg latest assesments) in the frame, the landing gear and the arrestor hook and another 70kg if they would opt for the TVC on the engines.
It wouldn't need catapults to lift of at MTOW, only the originally designed ramp and the arrestor hooks, further decreasing costs for the new CVF's, while having a very high commonality with an already existing fleet of RAF Typhoons.
This would also mean that it can get airborne much faster while at the same time being the absolute top dog in A2A close combat with its TVC engines.
I just cannot understand you guys, have some proud in what you can achieve, don't just buy into the fairytale that LM advocates.
They have a questionable reputation anyway.
Originally the 5th generation(a term invented by their
PR department btw) ATF they said the F22 would be
-1)easy to maintain by 1 mechanic and 2 enlisted men (like the SaaB philosophy)
-2)Have a high degree of reliability.
-3)would be fully integrated with all other systems in the USAF (link16 and such)
-4)could supercruise
-5)have a wide field AESA (with sidelobes)
-6)have all round LO layout.
-7)could use the latest weapons at full potential
It failed miserably on the first 3 and is left with an AESA with a narrow field of view while being unable to launch HOBS missiles and with an antiquated processor making future upgrades a challenge to say the least.
They royally F$%""#d us with the F104 and as things stand today, the same is gonna happen with the F35.
By their own admission (original standards of a 5th gen fighter) the F-35 is anything but a 5th generation fighter.
It won't be easy to maintain, it won't supercruise, it will only have limited LO characteristics mainly front views, it will not have the wunderhelmet but just a regular of the shelf model instead.
To top it all of, future upgrades and new weapon integration can only be done by the grace of LM (source code issues for anybody except the British I believe) for what will undoubtedly be a "nice" price.
All things suggest that the original fighter maffia was right all along, not surprising if you realize that they actually had hands on experiece.