From the figures the C is a worse option than the A.
The larger wing, necessary for the carrier, is much higher drag - so whilst it carries more fuel the range is almost identical. Meanwhile extra drag/weight of the wing, undercarriage, hook etc, adversely affects performance, especially acceleration.
On paper it has the advantage for some users of being probe equipped, but LM state the same space was left empty on the A and fitting a probe isn’t an issue.
Plus the C is being bought in very few numbers by one customer, the USN, whilst the A is being bought bought by multiple users in the thousands - driving down price and increasing spares availability etc (commonality, between models, for all the original hype is low).
Last edited by ORAC; 13th Jun 2022 at 22:17.