I'm very much afraid that the real danger is not CVF being seen in isolation. The real danger is that we are sleepwalking to extinction via a raft of commonly held misconceptions and assumptions which have somehow achieved the status of fact.
Assumption the first - the EP line as stands is sacrosanct and can in no way be increased, even though it represents a significant fall in real terms CAPEX.
Assumption the second - as ships are getting progressively more expensive (no one seems to question why?), we will be able to afford fewer of them.
Assumption the third - base (and supplier) infrastructure must fall to reflect the above. See the recent comments by the senior civil servant i/c the Maritime Industrial Strategy.
Much of the above hinges on assumption 1. Why, in a world where our forces are busier than they have been in decades and where the bunch of charlatans currently in power can lavish £64Billion in benefits last year alone, can we not assume an increase in real terms defence CAPEX AND resource funding. That is the debate that should be being held, NOT the current "how can we save as much as we can given the budget constraints" exercise in futility.