Summary and Key Points: Over the years, the U.S. military has attempted to adapt Air Force fighters for naval operations, often with mixed results. Efforts included the Vought 1600, a carrier-capable F-16, the F-15N "Sea Eagle," a navalized F-15, and the NATF-22, a potential carrier-based F-22.
-These adaptations faced challenges such as increased weight, structural reinforcements for carrier landings, and design compromises that affected performance and stealth capabilities.
-Although none of these projects reached full operational status, they paved the way for the more successful but still controversial F-35 program.
America’s Nimitz- and Ford-class aircraft carriers represent the nation’s most potent form of force projection, with fleets of F/A-18 Super Hornets and stealth F-35Cs standing by on each massive flight deck to deliver more combat power than can be mustered by entire nations. But while these fighters were chosen specifically for their ability to both perform in the air and withstand the rigors of hard carrier launches and landings, not all of the fighters Uncle Sam has tried to cram onto his fleet of flat tops were well suited for the job.
Over the years, the Pentagon has repeatedly tried to shave dollars off its top-line budgets by taking fighters designed for the long, well-manicured runways of the Air Force and converting them for the rough-and-tumble world of naval aviation. This approach, of course, culminated in the Joint Strike Fighter program — an effort that sought to field a single multi-purpose fighter for the Air Force, Navy, Marines, and a laundry list of foreign partners. And while the F-35 that resulted eventually proved to be a technological marvel, the program’s myriad budget overruns and technical setbacks seem to have been more than enough to scare the Pentagon away from making the same mistake again.
Today, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force both have next-generation fighters in development, both of which are being designed under the auspices of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program and with the goal of sharing a number of modular internal systems… but each branch is careful to explain that these programs are maturing........