Many of us argued the same points ad nauseam in the old Carrier thread (which seems to have gone AWOL) but this is the crux of the issue:-
"What we are left with is perhaps the worst of both worlds. An overoptimistic defence and security policy which wants the UK to take on and operate at very high levels of military capability, while at the same time sustaining a domestic defence and aerospace industry. But, there is not enough money to fund everything, and industry does not know what matters most to Government, and where it is prepared to be ruthless and stop something."