Sadly I think it's all too easy to see CVF being pulled. We have a govt which is committed to downsizing the military ship by ship, tank by tank, airframe by airframe. At the same time placing massive strains on the standing infrastructure it is reducing our overall capability. Size DOES matter.
For the last few years we've had 2 CVS available for ops at any one time, and one in docks - now we only have 2, since INVINCIBLE has been or will be (update?) paid off. And it's almost certain that before 2012, some pen-pusher will decide to mothball ARK ROYAL or ILLUSTRIOUS too. I still hear ambient rumours from friends in Whitehall about future cuts, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I'm sorry, but CVF is such a massive capability leap away from the battered RN's current abilities that I do not see where we will find the personnel or the justification for manning 2 of them (unless we ditch a couple more T45s to generate the required manpower, that is). I agree that we NEED greater capability, but I simply do not see how we can expect the govt to maintain its current enthusiasm for CVF.
Same applies to the Tories, of course. I think one of the most disingenuous claims they made during the last election campaign was that they would stop the cuts. In fact, Fatty Soames said, "I'll save 3 out of the 6 warships Mr Hoon intends to dispose of". Yeah, REALLY committed to the military, aren't they?
