Point of order Mr Chairman,
One force is a lot of water, quite a bit of air and a lot of ground as well.
Up until March 07, 50% ofthe UK force in Afghanistan was Dark Blue!
50% (supposed to be) of UK GR7/A/9 forces are Dark Blue.
TLAM is Dark Blue
Mk7 ASACS which did so well in Iraq is Dark Blue
The Royal Marines are Dark Blue with a green lid
Most of the Tanks and heavy equipment is transported by Ships, dark blue or red duster.
A huge amount of Light Blue Merlin is flown by Dark Blue Pilots.
All the Green Seakings in the Middle East are Dark Blue.
4.5 inch gun which delivers highly accurate fire support for ground troops and bombarded the Argentine positions in 1982 on a daily basis is Dark Blue.
and a lot of other items that cannot be mentioned here.
A truly versatile force with worldwide capability, operating regularly without host nation support.
With CVF that reach will be even further. With CVF, the UK would be able to support operations within Afghanistan from the sea.
Not discounting the contribution of our light blue brethren. They provide a huge amount of CAS, large SH and transport, but they are not as fluid (scuse the pun) a force as the dark blue.
Oh, and they have possibly the best air display team in the world!!