Impressive video of the -B landing and taking off on the boat.
Indeed LOL
But as I have posted previously...as far as I can make out - the UK F35 is not planned to use the STO technique a la USMC,our plan seems to be to take off conventionally using the ski jump to lob it into the air
but -
unlike the harrier - after leaving the ski jump the pilot will not be able to select STO to gain lift etc.
So
(1) To me the landing gear looks a little flimsy (esp nose u/c leg) for ski jumping,if you look closely at the landings on the vid...you can
see the noseleg flexing - by comparison the Harrier noseleg is built like a brick outhouse !
(2) So for takeoff all that ubercomplicated STOVL system is just dead weight/space...what a great idea LOL.
The harrier ski jumping technique was that as soon as you leave the ski jump then the pilot would select nozzles to 50ish degrees (preset on nozzle lever stop) and thereby gaining engine lift until not required.
I am sure John Farley would be able to give corrections/details