Sent to me by Ron Bober:
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Here's a longer video of F-35B sea trials...

This video is new for the public.  It was made just six weeks ago in the Atlantic, just off Newport News (Hampton Roads), Virginia .

These are the latest sea trials of the F-35B on the USS Wasp. They were very successful, with 74 vertical landings and short takeoffs in a three week period. The media and the program critics had predicted that holes would be burned in the deck and sailors washed overboard. Neither of which happened. You will notice a sailor standing on the bow of the ship as the jet rotates. That was an intentional part of the sea trials.

The USS Wasp is an amphibious assault ship designed to embark a Marine Expeditionary Unit. It is capable of simultaneously supporting rotary and fixed wing STOVL aircraft and amphibious landing craft operations. For this test deployment the USS Wasp was outfitted with special instrumentation to support and measure the unique operating environment as the F-35B conducted short takeoffs and vertical landings.

No catapult......    No hook ............     

The shape and scope of warfare just changed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki86x1WKPmE&feature=colike