I honestly hate myself for saying this - but I now believe, after decades of cynicism, that synthetic is the answer. Pilots do not need hours - they need skills.
I get the emergency handling, poor weather, cockpit kinematic points I really do...but I suspect that most F-35 operators worldwide are flying a similar amount of hours. Some seem to have the vision, or maybe culture, to adopt a progressive stance on synthetics - others might not.
What I really don’t get is the notion of a surrogate...because other than the poor weather case - everything else will be different than the things you’re actually training for - won’t they?
In the case of the USN - will the surrogate be able to go to the boat? If not then the argument becomes a little more tenuous.