The only way for expeditionary assets to truly gain a voice is to stand up under a 4* command of their own. Abolish JHC, move the LitM ships, RM/16AAB, C130 and non-pinging helicopters under one command, then let the individual Services eat their own young....which is exactly why it will never happen. If we make a bold declaration (circa 1981) that we're now an "in area" capability then so be it. However, why have two large carriers if you do that? Does that also mean the end of a "force for good"? The two biggest factors at play here are Osborne's decision to fund Successor through the Defence Budget (and Hammond's / Fallon's tacit acceptance of it...) and the irony of buying COTS from the US (to save R&D/NRE) only to see a circa 20-30% reduction in Sterling against the Dollar. When the ForEx hit an appreciable high before the Crash, as I was working on a PT that spent Dollars, I suggested we "hedge" a few $million in case of a crash - clearly, I was looked at as if I'd grown a second head. A mere handful of months later, Sterling collapsed and a white-faced PTL came back from a meeting with the Treasury. "How did it go?" we asked. "Awful..." came the response, "but, on the bright side, the Lightning II PTL was going in after me......".