As any aircraft design enthusiast knows, when someone creates a new aircraft design they do far more than consider the range, speed, or weapons capability.  Far more prosaic issues are also important:  How hard is it for the crew chief to change a tire?  How quickly can it be gassed and reloaded?

How hard is it to get spare parts?

Apparently, the JSF engine, when enclosed in its transport container, is too big to be transported to aircraft carriers by normal replenishment means.  This may be easily fixed by simply redesigning a transport container; alternatively, it could be a very difficult, and very expensive, problem to overcome.

No one ever said fielding the world’s newest fighter aircraft was easy, did they?