according to Adm West at a recent Commons Defence Select Commitee, a replacement for Trident will have to be discussed and put in progress. The defence budget is simply not large enough to support both those projects simultaneously.
There is simply not enough money in the pot to afford CVF without completely bu''ering the rest of the equipment programme (and not just the Navy's kit). Difficult choices ahead but cancelling CVF to afford a balanced force elsewhere is a no brainer.
These statements are both inaccurate. In the top ten list of most expensive procurement projects currently under way, CVF itself is number 11. Astute is number 2. Eurofighter is number 1.
We can definately afford CVF and we can also afford the budgeted 9 billion or so on top of the cost of the hulls for JCF. If we need to delete something to afford the Trident replacement, the only possible motive for deleting CVF would be political.
In the context of expensive procurement projects CVF is one of the cheaper and yet one of the most valuable and flexible assets the UK plans to procure.