Well, EM, this was the official response after the Navy engineers released the landing-pad specs: Lockheed Martin said that it was based on "worst-case" data and that "extensive tests" conducted with prototype BF-3 in January 2010 (after the report was completed) showed that "the difference between F-35B main-engine exhaust temperature and that of the AV-8B is very small, and is not anticipated to require any significant CONOPS changes for F-35B."
Qualifies as deceptive at the very least, since the specs remain unchanged.
Thanks for the hint on the older amphibs, link here:
U.S. Amphib Skirts Major Deployments for 8 Years | Defense News | defensenews.com
In any event, however, I still think that the impact on improvised-base ops is more important. As in the case of the AV-8B, I predict that the Marines will do it once per war with a full Public Affairs battalion in support, and a second in reserve.