F-35C: The Aircraft Carrier-Based Stealth Fighter Making Waves in Combat

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Key Points: The F-35C Lightning II, the U.S. Navy’s carrier-optimized stealth fighter, has proven its operational prowess in recent conflicts.

-Equipped with foldable wingtips, robust landing gear, and an extended wingspan for improved range and payload, the F-35C excels in maritime operations.

-In its first combat deployment, Marine Corps Squadron VMFA-314 struck Houthi weapons storage facilities in Yemen, showcasing the fighter’s ability to transit contested airspace and deliver precision strikes.

-As the only deployed USMC F-35C unit, VMFA-314 continues to underscore the platform’s capability as a next-generation fighter integral to U.S. naval power projection and global defense operations.

F-35C in Action: First Combat Strikes Against Houthi Targets

Despite all the controversies and horror stories over cost overruns and reliability issues, the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter program – the latest brainchild of Lockheed Martin’s legendary “Skunk Works” division – is here to stay. What’s more, for whatever reason, foreign military sales (FMS) customers of the F-35, including the Israeli Air Force and multiple Asia-Pacific regional allies of the Americas, seem to have somehow avoided those horrific experiences.

The variant of the F-35 that has grabbed the biggest attention lately – and in a positive light for a refreshing change – is the F-35C, the naval variant that operates from carriers.

Unique Features and Specifications of the F-35C

How does the F-35C stand out from the other variants of the Lightning II?

The craft is designed and built explicitly for aircraft carrier operations, the “Charlie” (going by the military phonetic alphabet here) has foldable wingtip sections, larger control surfaces for improved low-speed control, stronger landing gear for the stresses of carrier-arrested landings, a twin-wheel nose gear, and a stronger tailhook for use with carrier arrestor cables.

She also has the largest wingspan – 43 feet (13.1 meters) vs. 35 feet (10.6 meters) for the “Alpha” and “Bravo” models of the warbird – which allows for decreased landing speed whilst increasing both range and payload.

Speaking of payload, the F-35C variant can carry more than 5,000 lbs. (2,267 kg) of internal weapons or more than 18,000 lbs. (8,164 kg) of combined internal and external weapons. 

Among the ground-attack weapons in the “Charlie” model’s arsenal are:

AGM-88G AARGM-ER HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) Block 4

AGM-154 JSOW (Joint Standoff Attack Weapon)

GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)

GBU-53/B StormBreaker

Paveway laser-guided bomb (LGB)

AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (AGM-158 JASSM)

AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM)

Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW)

Operational History/Combat Performance

Just like with the F-35B, it was the Teufelhunden (“devil dogs”), i.e. the U.S. Marine Corps, who first used the F-35C in combat. The details come to us from the Carrier Strike Group 3 Public Affairs Office in a document titled “U.S. Marine Squadron Conduct First Combat Strikes Using F-35C Platform Against Houthi Targets in Yemen”:

“U.S. Marine Corps F-35C Lightning II aircraft, assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, conducted the first F-35C combat air strikes for the platform, Nov. 9-10 … VMFA 314, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), conducted multiple strikes on Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen. The facilities housed conventional weapons, including anti-ship missiles. The Iranian-backed Houthis used these weapons to target U.S. and international military and civilian vessels navigating international waters in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden … ’The F-35C demonstrated its warfighting advantage by transiting contested airspace and striking targets in the heart of Houthi territory over multiple days,” said U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Jeffrey ‘Wiki’ Davis, commanding officer of VMFA 314. ‘My Marines are honored to be first to fight with the F-35C.’”

VMFA 314 – nicknamed the “Black Knights” and home-based at  Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, California, is indeed the only deployed F-35C squadron in the USMC. MCAS Miramar used to be Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, immortalized along with the F-14 Tomcat in the original “Top Gun” movie in 1986.

As a side note, Israel was the first nation to use any version of the F-35 in combat, giving the F-35I Adir (“Mighty One”) variant her proverbial “baptism of fire” against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in May 2018. In April 2019, it was the F-35A’s turn to be “blooded” in battle, with the U.S. Air Force deploying a two-ship flight to conduct an air strike against Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL/Da’esh targets at Wadi Ashai, Iraq, in support of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Senior Defense Editor

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for 19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).