It’s more capable because it has better avionics and electronics, the F-16 just like the F-15 still needs a targeting pod for many ground attack missions. The

It’s more capable because it has better avionics and electronics, the F-16 just like the F-15 still needs a targeting pod for many ground attack missions. The F-15E was built for air interdiction to replace the F4/F111 it has a better radar (especially for ground attack), a more sophisticated electronics warfare system and more busses for high bandwidth electronics such as targeting pods than it’s air superiority brothers. The F-35 is an advancement over the F-16 it was supposed to be and is a relatively cheap (for a 5th gen fighter) multi-role platform it’s more advanced than the F-16 in every aspect for example much of the capability that a targeting pod such as the LITENING provides is integral to the F-35 and the fact that it carries about 2.5 times the fuel than the F-16 means it can carry much more munitions instead of fuel tanks (F-16E/F with conformal fuel tanks comes closer without expanding hard points) What you can’t change is it’s main characteristics and that is its a single seat single engine multi-role fighter so regardless of how more advanced it is it simply doesn’t have the hard points due to its size and due to the fact that it’s a single seater it is more limited than a two seater aircraft when it comes to operating in denied airspaces and missions that require a pilot and a weapons officer. Saying that it’s a problem because the F-35 is more expensive currently is nonsense the F-16 is the most produced fighter of the modern era comparing its cost now to the F-35 is silly. The F-35 is unquestionably more capable than the F-16, but it doesn’t mean that the US currently doesn’t have a gap in its capabilities specifically for interdiction and deep air support missions. During the early to mid development of the F-35 an F-35E was considered it was to be a larger two seater variant of the F-35 without S/VTOL capabilities to replace the F-15E but due to the cost and lower part commonality between it and the rest of the F-35 line up it was abandoned.