Originally Posted by
Blacksheep
The QE2 class carriers need to get within 560 miles of the target for their F35Bs to be able to do anything useful. I think the QE2s are a bit big for coastal operations, so there's a very limited scope for targeting until the marines have gone ashore and secured suitable locations for an operational base from which the F35Bs can operate. It seems to me that rather than force-projectors, these monster flat tops are not much more than militarised versions of the Atlantic Conveyor. A fleet of half a dozen Illustrious replacements would have made more sense.
AAR and external tanks (either drop tanks or conformal tanks) can increase the operational radius of a carrier's air wing considerably.
There is no proportionate relationship between the size and the cost of a ship. The maxim 'steel is cheap and air is free' may not be totally accurate but is close enough to defeat such arguments as yours.
The main expense of the QEC will be its through-life costs, mainly comprising manpower. The crew of 700 is comparable to that of the cramped bodge job that was the Illustrious class CVS. Half a dozen Illustrious replacements would still require similarly expensive minimum manpower, C4I, weapons & sensor systems, propulsion, electrical power generation, automation, hotel services, etc., as a QEC. How can you possibly equate the cost of one QEC with six (or even three) of the other?