Down to 1 even officially...
My God,
I am so surprised I'm reeling in shock...
I'll say it again, ' wouldn't 3 uprated CVS type carriers with Harrier 2+ & GR9 have been more sensible; with one carrier - if lucky and and unless I get the wrong idea, F-35 not an RAF asset & I get the idea it ain't gonna happen.
Wrong now we'll not have a big carrier - maybe might get trundled out between refits, and very likely on this point the F-35 will be cancelled / forwarded to a long, long time in a distant galaxy...
It's probably too late, but is there ANYONE out there willing to climb off their fat pensions and suggest building a usable no.( 3 ) of improved CVS style ships, Harrier 2+ & GR9 to equip them, and a decent fleet ( don't be scared, 'fleet' means a relatively few no. of ships nowadays, but you'll have plenty of chance to see when sent as an observer.
One big ship in dock would be as much use as - fill in your own blanks here...
So are we down to using Typhoons as CAM-SHIP one -offs ? At least it should be able to take out quite a few baddies before taking to the goon suit !
I seem to remember a rather sensible idea, SCADS which containerised protection & even made a mini-carrier out of Container ships STUFT, but like the RFA would require decent protection and command / control systems, ( also to be containerised to a large degree )which I would think there are plenty of ex-recently services willing people to put together AND TEST TRIAL ; still we'll all rest easier in our beds knowing the Arts & Ballet are well covered.
Note all options really rely on Harrier 2+ for layered defence / some ' swing role ' strike, and GR9 for pure strike.
F-35B later.