STOVL

[1]On aircraft carriers, non-catapult-assisted fixed-wing short takeoffs are accomplished with the use of thrust vectoring, which may also be used in conjunction with a runway "ski-jump".

Use of STOVL tends to allow aircraft to carry a larger payload compared to vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), while still only requiring a short runway.

The same is true of the B variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, which demonstrated VTOL capability in test flights but is operationally a STOVL.

In 1951, the Lockheed XFV and the Convair XFY Pogo tailsitters were both designed around the Allison YT40 turboprop engine driving contra-rotating propellers.

The French had a nominally Mach 2 Dassault Mirage IIIV fitted with no less than 8 lift engines that flew (and crashed), but did not have enough space for fuel or payload for combat missions.

NASA uses the abbreviation SSTOVL for Supersonic Short Take-Off / Vertical Landing,[4] and as of 2012, the X-35B/F-35B are the only aircraft to conform with this combination within one flight.

[5][6] The experimental Mach 1.7 Yakovlev Yak-141 did not find an operational customer, but similar rotating rear nozzle technology is used on the F-35B which entered service on 31 July 2015.