Relevant
>> Pilots recovered alive – one with minor injuries – after ejecting from fighter jet as US military says its guided missile cruiser ‘mistakenly’ fired on the F/A-18.
>> Pilots recovered alive – one with minor injuries – after ejecting from fighter jet as US military says its guided missile cruiser ‘mistakenly’ fired on the F/A-18.
The F22 fleet is capped at 200, and I gather significantly less than that in a state of combat readiness. There are technically around 600 F35s in service, but they are plagued by reliability issues, to the point that they are only averaging 50% availability for missions.
USN aircraft, by count: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_United_States_n...
USN wings, by squadron equipment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_air...
In short: there's little reason to majority-equip carrier air wings with F-35Cs.
They're an exquisite asset, with the maintenance and availability penalties that come along with that. Not all missions require exquisite assets.
When you're thousands of miles from the nearest supply depot, in the middle of the ocean, it makes sense to be pragmatic and use a design that's been in production and refined for almost 30 years. Sometimes, good aerodynamic performance, good engines, and weapons compatibility is enough. Therefore a lot of the time, the F/A-18E/F is enough.
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024/04/12/air-force-to-get-...
https://theaviationist.com/2024/01/24/usaf-to-fly-f-16s-into...
https://www.twz.com/litening-targeting-pod-tested-on-f-a-18-...