I want to post two things:
1. The mighty Sea Harrier is still contributing to the Navy's capabilities:
Doing it at sea is another kettle of fish though. The RN has boxed clever to be able to be safe with F-35B, an altogether noisier and more powerful aircraft.
2. A recent
report on the flanks of NATO and how to protect them, suggests carriers, including ours, are going to be important in NATO roles:
- The UK’s Royal Navy should take the lead in any early effort to counter offensive Russian submarine operations via a multi-national task group centred upon one of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
- NATO requires a pro-active strategy to degrade and defend against Moscow’s ship, submarine, air and ground-launched cruise and ballistic missile capability based in and staging out of the Arctic region – a campaign that would require a wartime multi-carrier deployment by the US Navy and the basing of substantial forces in Iceland, the UK and Norway.