Yeah, I stated as much myself - but compared to a F-35C let alone Rafale M & Super Hornet with external tanks (hell, even a Su-33/J-15), the deficit in fuel fraction is such that no amount of parsimony with the landing reserves is going to offset the shortfall. And these competitors have tanker support available, if the F-35B cannot take advantage as well it will be even more decidedly inferior in strike range. Not to mention it kind of defeats the purpose of a stealthy, survivable aircraft when the carrier has to approach so close to enemy shores that it is at greatly elevated risk of attack.
Wasn't there a proposal to use V-22s for refuelling? Considering its impressive payload, that could work really well! What became of it?
Everyone keeps harping on about the range of the F-35B, but it has to be said it is a vast improvement on the Harrier which we relied upon for three decades. The whole point of Carrier based Strike is that your aircraft can launch from much closer to the enemy than land based aircraft can, shorter sortie times mean more sorties can be generated per day, which was one of the prime considerations in the design specs of the QECs. A sortie that lasts two or three hours is more useful than one that lasts 8 hours with IFR. The former aircraft can fly two or three sorties a day, the latter just one. That's two or three times as many targets that can be hit compared to one long range strike. The QECs were designed for a requirement to carry up to 36 F-35Bs, which on day one of a campaign would mean 36 strike aircraft launched, and assuming they all come back safely, another 36 sorties can be generated meaning 72 strikes per day. If a third sortie can be generated, potentially108 sorties in a single day, on a par with the much larger Nimitz and Ford classes.
If there is an absolute need for tanker support, then the QEC will either be deployed alongside a USN carrier group and rely on their embarked tankers, or Land based large tankers can be deployed in theatre. They can fly much further and for longer and even though that again means a single sortie per day, in the case of a large tanker it can still refuel multiple aircraft per sortie. It's the strike aircraft that need to be turned around rapidly to achieve multiple sorties. As in the apocryphal tale of the Spartan warrior about to leave for war, who complains his sword is too short; his mother replies that he should try standing a bit closer to the enemy...
