The wing of the Navy’s F-35 variant has undergone the most dramatic changes to accommodate carrier operations.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 was conceived as a platform that could be adapted to serve in the US Air Force, US Navy, and US Marine Corps, performing very different mission profiles in each service. However, such varied adaptation was highly ambitious and challenging, due to the difficulty of designing a variant of the F-35 for the US Navy that was capable of operating from carriers.
Carrier operations impose exacting demands upon a fighter aircraft. Such demands include catapult launches, which exert sudden, remarkable force on an airframe; arresting cable landings, which apply a sudden, stopping force; and Constant exposure to salt spray, which can be corrosive over time. Life at sea can be brutal and withering, especially for the unprepared or land-acclimated, forcing the F-35 designers to reimagine significant portions of their airframe, sufficient to make the aircraft suitable for carrier operations.
The F-35C’s Specifications
- Year Introduced: 2019 (Initial Operational Capability declared)
- Number Built: ~150+ (as of 2025; production ongoing)
- Length: 51.5 ft (15.7 m)
- Height: 14.7 ft (4.48 m)
- Wingspan: 43 ft (13.1 m) with wings spread; 30 ft (9.1 m) folded
- Weight:
- Empty weight: ~34,800 lb (15,800 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 70,000 lb (31,800 kg)
- Engine: One Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-400 afterburning turbofan (approx. 43,000 lbf thrust with afterburner)
- Top Speed: Mach 1.6 (1,200+ mph, 1,930 km/h)
- Range: ~1,200 nautical miles (2,220 km) with internal fuel
- Service Ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
- Loadout:
- Internal bays: Up to 18,000 lb (8,200 kg) of ordnance across two bays
- Hardpoints: 6 external pylons (when stealth not prioritized), for additional bombs, missiles, or fuel tanks
- Missiles: AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder, future AIM-260 JATM
Bombs: JDAM family, Small Diameter Bombs, GBU-12/31/32, nuclear-capable B61 (planned integration)
- Aircrew: 1
How the F-35C Is Adapted to Carrier Operations
The wing of the Navy’s F-35 variant has undergone the most dramatic changes. Whereas the F-35A (in use with the Air Force) and the F-35B (in use with the Marine Corps) have compact wings, suited for land-based runways, the F-35C’s wing required a significantly larger surface area. The wing was expanded more than four feet while the leading edge flaps and trailing edge flaperons were enlarged to give the jet the slow-speed handling qualities needed for carrier landings. However, the F-35C required larger wings for carrier landings, yet it also needed to be compact enough for storage once aboard the carrier. To meet the storage demands of the carrier, the larger F-35C wings were built to fold, in accordance with decades of naval aviation practice. While the wing’s folding mechanism adds weight and complexity to the aircraft, it was deemed the only way to make the F-35C entirely suitable for carrier operations.
And like all carrier-suited aircraft, the F-35C’s landing gears needed to be heftier, which required a complete redesign from the F-35A and B variants’ land-based landing gear due to how carrier landings are different from land-based landings. Carrier landings do not allow for the gentle flare-outs of a conventional airfield; instead, carrier landings are essentially controlled crashes onto the deck, with pilots trained to aim for a precise spot where an arresting wire can snag the aircraft’s tailhook. To withstand the punishment associated with the landing, the F-35C’s nose gear was beefed up with a two-wheel design. The main landing gear struts were also reinforced to absorb the immense vertical loads inherent to slamming an aircraft onto a carrier deck.
In addition, the F-35C’s flight control system had to be modified to allow for exact handling, which naval aviators require, in the last few moments of a carrier approach. The F-35C’s controls were rewritten to smooth out tiny oscillations found in other variants, to allow for more predictable throttle-to-lift responses. The result is an entirely different feeling stick than on other F-35s, despite the same cockpit layout.
Lastly, the F-35C needed to be more durable than its fellow variants as life at sea subjects an airframe to saltwater, high wings, and catapult shots/cable landings, which are a brutal combination. The F-35 received coatings, materials, and seals designed to resist corrosion. At the same time, the arresting hook bulkhead was built with strengthened alloys, and the internal structures were braced for repeated high-load cycles.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
