One of the culprits here went on to his next star, another is still a well remunerated LM consultant and the third retired with honors, and nobody on the program has ever explained why these public statements were so widely at odds with reality.
Pointing out that "others lie too", doesn't help credibility I'm afraid. Its too bad Bill compromised himself so much or people might pay more attention when he does quote an analyst who actually knows what he is talking about, but unfortunately:
JSF News 2 - Stealth Questions Raised
They have already been launched the X-47B via catapult but from what I read they did have similar tail-hook issues which were comparable to the F-35C but hopefully this has now been resolved.
both aircraft used the same (poor) cross-deck pendant model.
The X-47B is only catching 10 percent of its wires on land, and in the first video released showing it trapping on the runway it was using its 3rd hook fix.
Dont ask for a link, I don't have one. I have a friend who works out there. I know if a bunch of reporters were asked to come and see the F-35C strut its stuff on a CVN, and it only did the cat and not the trap their alarm bells would be ringing. No one wants to get black balled though so they play along, and it avoids the F-35(C) level of criticism.