Eerrmmm.... you guys are looking at an overhead shot of the
Intrepid Air Museum in New York. The carrier has been converted to
house a collection of old military aircraft. Why do you think there
is such a different variety on the carrier deck?
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org
And just because the F-117 has a tailhook, it doesn't mean that it
can be used as a carrier based aircraft. Quite a few aircraft have
tailhooks on them but you would never see them on carriers... F-15,
F-16, F-104 etc... Tailhooks can also be used on land as certain
military runways are equipped with arrestor cables to shorten
stopping distances in emergency situations.
And the A-12 you were mentioning about is the one that would have
been derived from the A-6 Intruder if it had been developed. The
A-12 Avenger II was envisioned as a replacement to the A-6 but was
never developed in the end.
