That seems rather out-of-character for them.
I don't recall saying it was. Ace, however, was flying what was essentially a carrier bird when he first appeared, and the box of the
Flagg prominently featured the Skystriker blasting off its deck. An F-35 would follow much more logically than an F-22.
Dude, all I'm going to say is that I thank God that you're not in charge of designing these things. I know, but by the time Ace was released, the Tomcat had been in Navy service for roughly a full decade (which would make the Skystriker, what, the Multicam of jet fighters?
), so I don't think calling it a Navy fighter is necessarily inaccurate, and the F-35 echoes the initial intent for it to be a multi-service aircraft, unlike the F-22.
Scarlett would be my ideal, but I'm not holding my breath.