George,
I think it would be helpful if I replied again here.
Yes, my terminology fail - the 'ORD' I referred to was the JORD. When the programme was awarded to LM, this document became the 'JSF Air System Requirement Document'.
And yes, the overall design of what became the F-35 was certainly based on the LM X-35. But....the X-35 was a concept demonstrator, no more and no less. It set the basic layout of the aircraft, with an aft mounted engine, forward mounted lift fan, internal weapons bays and so forth. The F-35 was, in detail, a clean sheet design using a similar layout, and it went through a large number of iterations that adjusted every single dimension on the aircraft.
Let me say again - the overall length of the F-35 was not driven by the UK's CVS design. It came out of the need to achieve a very tough VLBB requirement, which was a KPP - couldn't be traded away. That meant an aircraft that was as light as possible. That meant an aircraft that was as compact in overall dimensions as possible - a bit like the way the Harrier was developed. By 2000, a longer aircraft could certainly have been developed, which would have helped a lot with internal fuel stowage - but it would have breached the VLBB KPP.
Hope this helps
Best regards as ever to all those who actually have to do the designing stuff,
Engines