good point,,especially ref the STOVL variant,,
That’s just got to be heavier.
Just looked-up the F-35 weight specs on www.fas.org. This info might be a little ‘dated’, but the weights quoted are MUCH lower than the ones Pierre Spey is citing.
Empty weight for the F-35 (A or B) is given as (approx) 22,500-lb. I gotta believe the ‘B’ is heavier than that, but that’s their number. Add-in an internal fuel load of 15,000-lb & you have a takeoff weight of 37,500-lbs. Carrying a load of AIM-120D’s & AIM-9X’s I think that max takeoff weight would be right around 40,000-lbs (less than the engine thrust rating.)
The empty weight for the F-35C (carrier version) was given as 24,000-lb. Internal fuel load is 16,000-lb. As I said before, the ‘C’ has a broader wing to allow lower landing speeds & this is where some of the extra fuel is stored. The wing may make the ‘C’ the better dogfighter of the 3 versions.