Althenic,
I believe the idea of taking a couple of old Tarawas as an alternative to CVF was put to bed during the defence review (of course things can change!). I do believe you are right we need something along these lines to replace Ocean around 2015. The Tarawas are steam propelled and manpower intensive. I don't think they would fit the bill.
A new LPH or two capable of operating F35Bs would be a welcome addition.
The USN was operating 20+ AV8Bs of an LPH in GW2. They are capable platforms and much more useful than a CVS.
Last edited by Navaleye; 6th September 2004 at 13:34.