CM fairly sure both B and C models have been treated for life at sea I remember reading something about the composite shell's being intended to provide better resistance to saltwater rather than having to be painted on and messing with the RAM.
Can't say I know either but from I've read I don't expect anyone actually knows what the range penalty really works out to be apart from comparing the headline figures. The C has additional requirements for fuel remaining on returning to the carrier while in theory the B could return with several minutes of fuel remaining and still land in higher sea states than the C model (whether it ever would is another question). I saw somewhere that it's ferry range is close to 1000nm and combat range is 450 to 460nm (I doubt anything apart from the range is in the public domain).
Last edited by eaglemmoomin; 7th Apr 2013 at 13:05.