Throughout its development history, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has been plagued by delays and budget overruns. Although the time to reach initial combat capability was much longer than expected, the ultimate result was a tactical fighter with superior performance. However, critics of the F-35 program did not give up, but continued to point out the challenges faced by the fighter jet. As tensions between the United States and other major powers intensify, and military planners shift their focus to the vast Indo Pacific region, the issue of F-35 fighter jet range has become more urgent, especially in the navy. Due to the need to take off from the aircraft carrier, the options for carrier based pilots to land and refuel are limited. In fact, they usually have to return to the aircraft carrier to refuel. If the range of the fighter jets carried by the aircraft carrier is not far enough, it will mean that the aircraft carrier must sail closer to the opponent in order to launch effective attack operations, which may expose the aircraft carrier itself to enemy defense weapons. So, do F-35 fighter jets have range issues? If so, what can the navy do? The F-35 fighter jet is widely regarded as the most outstanding fifth generation aerial platform today, with advantages such as stealth, multifunctionality, long range, fast top speed, and advanced electronic warfare/avionics equipment. There are three models of F-35 fighter jets, each with different specifications and, importantly, different ranges. The F-35A fighter jet is known as the "runway queen" of this type of fighter jet because it takes off and lands like traditional fighters. This low-cost model requires a standard runway of about 8000 feet (approximately 2438.4 meters) to take off and land normally. The F-35B fighter jet is the Lightning II fighter jet of the United States Marine Corps. As the most complex mechanical structure among the three models of the F-35 fighter jet, the F-35B fighter jet has the capability of short takeoff and vertical landing. The Navy uses the F-35C model, nicknamed "Charlie". The F-35C fighter jet is designed for aircraft carrier operations and has the largest fuel capacity among the three models of F-35 fighter jets, thus having the longest range. At full load, its combat radius is 600 nautical miles, which is superior to the F/A-18 Super Hornet carrier based fighter with a combat radius of 570 nautical miles in air-to-air mission configuration. When attacking ground or water targets, the F-35C fighter jet can still maintain its combat radius, while the combat radius of the Super Hornet fighter jet is reduced to only 320 nautical miles. Although the combat radius of the Lightning II fighter jet exceeds that of the Super Hornet carrier based fighter jet, its payload is completely inferior to the latter. It compensates for this deficiency with its own characteristics as a stealth aircraft, and its radar cross-section is three orders of magnitude smaller than that of the F/A-18 fighter jet. However, all stealth aircraft in the world will not make the aircraft carrier itself invisible. Despite the longer range of F-35C fighter jets, aircraft carriers still have to be in danger to launch offensive operations. The report states that although the F-35 fighter jet is still a relatively new platform, the Navy is already developing its next generation tactical fighter jet in the form of the F/A-XX project. This jet fighter is designed to replace the Super Hornet fighter and EA-18G Growler electronic fighter, and is expected to have stealth, airborne directed energy weapon capabilities, and the ability to integrate with unmanned systems. According to the goals pursued by the Navy, its range may be even farther than the F-35. However, currently no carrier based aircraft has sufficient range to ensure the safety of the aircraft carrier itself. If the US Navy wants to ensure the safety of aircraft carriers and allow them to continue to function, it must consider other options. (New Society)