Why night-trained carrier aircraft were no easy substitute for B-25s

Could British-style night-fighting skills have let American carrier aircraft raid Japan instead of using B-25s?

Only at extreme risk; contemporary carrier aircraft lacked the B-25s' range, making the bomber plan safer and more alarming to Japan.

A maximum-range night attack by contemporary carrier aircraft would demand exceptional navigation, formation, and recovery training. Even British air groups trained for night work would be operating at high risk near the edge of their practical radius. The B-25s allowed the carriers to remain much farther from Japan and avoided the need to recover the strike aboard ship. That stand-off approach was safer for the carrier force and created alarming uncertainty about what other long-range aircraft American carriers might operate.