We are not going to permanently base a carrier in Oman or Singapore. There is talk of forward basing an asset in Singapore, probably an OPV, and some media types have jumped to wild conclusions. Neither Canada or Australia currently operate V/STOL aircraft, however there is an agreement within NATO and some non NATO partners to allow for naval helicopter interoperability.
Do you think there there is any significance in the map in the Twitter update above?
Will the build up of the RN/RAF F-35B force be speeded up?
Will there be an increase in Merlin HM2 numbers?
Following on from that, you may be interested in this
transcript of a NATO conference in 1956. Vice Admiral Clifford RN notes that the key development in ASW aircraft was the helicopter with dipping sonar and homing torpedoes, which were carrier based, and a few years later frigate/destroyer based aircraft such as the Wasp.
I remember seeing a promotional film from the seventies that stated that a frigate and her Wasp could work in conjunction with a Sea King (from a carrier or larger RFA). Today the same could be said for frigates and destroyers operating Wildcat - they could work in conjunction with dipping Merlins. The carrier controls all task group aircraft, and contributes to the effectiveness of other units, like the potential use of data from F-35B to cue ships' weapons.
The limitations of the carriers the RN back then were understood, which is why the new carriers were intended to be larger. However, instead of building a strong case built around convoy defence in the Atlantic, fending off mass submarine attacks and long range aircraft in the GIUK gap, and amphibious operations as part of NATO, the case for new carriers was vague and based on a possible Far East crisis. As such it could be dismantled. Forgetting that whilst the nature of future crises is hard to predict, our national interests, such as securing the Atlantic Sea Lines of Communication will not.
We can expect carrier based task groups to perform these exercises as part of NATO, naval operations that are the peacetime conjugate of war. We can also expect them to contribute to humanitarian aid and disaster relief, for which a large deck and multiple helicopters can get aid where it is needed, like the current role being played by RFA
Argus, operating three Merlin HC4 and a Wildcat HM2 as well as lilypadding American helicopters.