Spaz, it's like this:
371 years ago Mr and Mrs Newton had a baby that they named Isaac, and he was really REALLY smart...
The challenge with any vertical landing aircraft is that the landing speed is by definition zero, as is the wing lift. So the total landing weight is less than the thrust, by a margin sufficient to give you some control, and the operating empty weight (OEW) is part of the landing weight. If it goes up the useful load at landing (fuel reserve and weapons) goes down, and there's nowhere to run. I can't tack on a few knots of touchdown speed and use my brakes a bit harder. (That's basically how other fighters, particularly the F-16, have absorbed growth - with bigger brakes.)
None of that has changed in last decade, any more than the laws of gravity. And they did pull out a small vertical thrust increase during the great weight panic of 2004, but not anything like as much as the net weight gain.