I’m not sure if this is the right place to put this, but it is the Bugs and Issues thread, so here goes.
The F-35 armament is… in a very odd place right now. I’m not sure by accident or design, but the weapon options available are very limited compared to its actual capability.
The F-35 only has room in its bomb bays for 1 bomb per bay. Whether it be a GBU-12 or a GBU-31, it can only carry one per bay. The F-35B cannot carry the 2000lb GBU-31 and is limited to the 1000lb bomb the GBU-32, which it currently does have access to in game.
The exception to this rule is the GBU-39, which it can carry 4 per bay.
Right now in game, only the GBU-32 can be carried, and it is incorrectly set to be carried 2 in each bomb bay. The reason for this is the door mounted pylon has been set to allow mounting of the GBU-32, whereas in real life, this mount can only carry the AIM-120.
The F-35 Wing Pylons should be able to allow carrying of the AIM-9X on all six pylons, currently the AIM-9X can only be carried on the outer pylons, the middle pylon can only carry an AIM-9M, and the AIM-120 can only be carried on the inner most and outermost pylons, which is incorrect, the AIM-120 should not be equipable on the outermost pylon as it is too heavy for the mount, only the middle and inner should hold it.
The only ground attack munition in game currently carried on the wing pylons is limited to the ASM JSM on the inner and middle pylons, and the Mk. 82 LDGP on the inner most pylon.
In real life, the middle and inner pylons can be used with the same ordnance as the F-16 and utilize the BRU-57 mount for dual carriage on these pylons.
So, in summation, the following list should be used:
Outer Wing Pylon: 1x AIM-9 series ONLY
Middle Wing Pylon: AIM-9 series, AIM-120 series, AGM-65, All GBU series bombs, All Cluster munitions, Rockets, All Mk. 80 series bombs, AGM-154 JSOW Ground munitions compatible with BRU-57 to be mountable using said system.
Inner Wing Pylon: AIM-9 series, AIM-120 series, AGM-65, All GBU series bombs, All Cluster munitions, Rockets, All Mk. 80 series bombs, AGM-154 JSOW, Ground munitions compatible with BRU-57 to be mountable using said system.
Bomb Bay Door Mount: 1x AIM-120 ONLY
Bomb Bay: GBU-12, GBU-31, GBU-32, GB-54, GBU-39, CBU-103, CBU-105, AIM-120
As stated earlier, the Bomb Bay can only carry one of each type of bomb, though an exception for the GBU-39 allows 4 per bay, and in the bomb slot 2x AIM-120s should be carryable.
The F-35B cannot carry 2000lb weapons internally.
Furthermore, it seems very odd to me that the F-35Cs are land based, and yet there is an F-35B squadron based on the carrier. It seems to make more sense that all Cs would be carrier based, and land based F-35s be a mixture of F-35A and F-35B.