Navy readies for 1st F-35 carrier landing

Before the Navy’s oldest active aircraft carrier docks for a 16-month maintenance period, it’s helping other ships get ready for deployment, and next month, will host the first landing of the F-35C on a carrier.

The Marine version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the short-takeoff, vertical-landing F-35B, has made successful landings aboard ships at sea.

But the Navy’s version, the F-35C, which is designed to land on carriers, has not — in part because of problems with the tail hook.

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