Speaking of ‘navalizing’, I was at a recent air show.
Looked over an F-15E Strike Eagle.
It had an arresting hook. ??
Asked the pilot about it. All he said was ‘they all do’.
Why the hook? Carrier capable?
Even AF combat aircraft have arresting gear for field arrested landings in case of emergencies like lost engine, hydraulics, brakes....They are not designed to withstand the pounding of carrier landings.
Almost all military fields have arresting gear for these emergencies.
Carrier landings require much stronger landing gear than USAF aircraft possess.
The hook on a USAF fighter is for emergency use only. It wasn’t designed for carrier landings — in some situations, they can stretch an arresting cable across a runway.
The airframe would need extensive inspection and at least some repairs after using the hook.