Here’s Why The US Navy Jointly Operates The F/A-18 Super Hornet & F-35C For Carrier Ops

The US Navy began building its new fleet of ‘high-low’ fighters when the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II joined the fleet in 2019. The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has continued to serve as the workhorse strike fighter for most missions, but its stealthy new hangar-mate enhances the air wing as a whole. These jets serve on the same flight deck as complementary platforms despite decades of technological disparity with overlapping mission sets that maximize the power of the carrier strike group.