Air Force planes can’t land on aircraft carriers because they don’t have landing hooks and their landing gears aren’t built to sustain the force of a catapult.
When you look at gigantic aircraft carriers, like the Gerald Ford-class or Nimitz-class supercarriers, it’s hard to imagine that there are planes that can’t take off or land from the long strips of runway on the deck. Yes, these runways are relatively long compared to other carriers, but they’re definitely nowhere near airport-worthy, and not many planes are designed to take off and land from such a relatively small length of runway.
The Navy uses special jets with vertical and/or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities on aircraft carriers. Take the F-35 (Lightning II) jet fighter series, for example. There are three types: F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C — similar planes but with very different takeoff capabilities. The F-35B was designed to literally take off like a helicopter, while the F-35C has a landing gear designed for catapult launches and cable arrestments, but the F-35A is a conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) Air Force jet, and can’t handle the demands of STOL.
