Cancel CVF???!!! Gents, the world has moved on considerably. We are now structuring our Armed Forces around an expeditionary, littorally capable, mission-tailored force. The whole shebang has to be self-sustaining (so no plan to rely on the US to provide top-cover - yes we all know we wouldn't be fighting a major theatre war without 'em but that's a different story) in the round. Hard to produce that OC without your own go anywhere strike - ie a carrier, etc. You can't always rely/plan for Host Nation support for those fancy Typhoons, so I guess those mates may have a sore back after an 8 hour flight to the scene and then back (or maybe they won't get used - wouldn't that be a bugger? Another thread possibly!)
In case people have got a bit dumber lately; we only need 2 carriers because there's always a lead-in time to a conflict/crisis. This allows the players to position if not in advance then fairly soon after startex. No-one's claiming the Brit's are a world superpower, but we (along with the French) are a big influence in that bad ol'world. Therefore even our iddy biddy CV fleet can be in the right place at around the right time. Once there, you shouldn't underestimate the influence/effect these ships will have. Against most opfor the CVF and associated tailored battle group will have few real competitors (standfast China/N.Korea/Russia?) - although I'm not talking about "liberating" an entire country here.
As ever, it's not usually the military capability that is found wanting, it'll be the politicos dithering that gets everything FUBAR'd. That's the element of the military that needs some money spending on it. It took NATO an excrutiating 30 days (ie standard time) to get into Pakistan post earthquake - not much help if you've been hanging on by your fingernails waiting for assistance. Likewise if the Rwandans are chopping each other to bits then it's not normally spontaneous. Someone knew about it but did jack le cack.
What we actually need is political cojones, much more than stealth fighters who will never actually fight a remotely similar enemy. (Think I may have gone a bit off-thread here!)
Last edited by scottishbeefer; 13th Apr 2006 at 19:30.