It would have been more reassuring if Lockheed Martin had said 'The new tailhook
WILL as opposed to 'should' but that is said tongue in cheek and no doubt the F-35C will eventually work.
Lockheed Martin has come up with a new design for the tailhook on the F35 Joint Strike Fighters that should allow the Navy variant, the F-35C, to land on carriers
All along I have suggested that the US would have to adapt its ships to enable the F-35B to be operated from their decks and finally we are getting this confirmation.
I can understand why the US Navy could solely operate the one variant which would have to 'B' the B.
They would no doubt have them embarked on carriers along with tanking assets, AEW aircraft, plus if they were carrying any external payloads they could also have EW support. We would have none apart from a rotor wing, short range AEW that would offer coverage far in excess of that offered by a ship, but it surely cannot compare to the latest E-2D which is what we would have had prior to that last 'W' turn.