Apparently the US Congress needs to approve the Canadian Super Hornet buy also. Anyways here is an RN CMDR describing the PaxRiver Ski Jumps etc.
"...With over 10 years of Harrier experience, Cdr Gray has conducted numerous operations from both land and sea, but only recently experienced how the F-35B performs a Ski-Jump take-off:
“With both the Sea Harrier FA2 and to a lesser extent the Harrier GR7/9/AV8B, the pilot was very much in-the-loop and had to execute near-perfect timing and control to safely execute a Ski-Jump launch. With the F-35B, the whole experience is much more controlled and predictable with the majority of the launch autonomous, allowing the pilot to focus on the mission ahead rather than being distracted by the launch.”
Each F-35 Developmental Test aircraft is able to capture a significant amount of detailed engineering information about each flight test, being equipped with flight science technologies including specially-designed landing gear to capture all necessary test data. Testing occurs daily with particular focus on aircraft configuration, weight and wind flight envelope (which is the combination of speed, altitude and angle of attack when a flying object is aerodynamically stable)....
12 Sep 2017 https://ukcarrierpower.tumblr.com/po...ted-test-force