Finland - 61 FA/18, Sweden 141 Gripen (plus a few trainers), Norway 57 F-16.
If you really want to claim that Russia is still a threat to us, then those three countries face a far greater threat, not least because Russia would (possibly) still be able to invade and hold the land. Yet those three countries get by with far fewer QRA resources.
Our procurement of 232 Typhoons had more to do with job protection than any real need for such a large fleet. Job protection is a worthy objective, and one that I would wholly support. But don't pretend that we really need so many aircraft for air-defence - especially as they are completely useless against the only real airborne threat that we face.
To go back to the original thread, if FJ crews are not getting enough hours to stay current, then reduce the numbers of FJ crews. Better to train enough crew to fly 100 Typhoons safely than half-train crew to fly 232 Typhoons badly.
The Northern QRA launched a few months back to assist an airliner which had dropped a wheel on the runway without the crew being aware. Maybe if it was Trim Stab in his BizJet he'd feel differently about the money spent on QRA
I've been trying to find details of that incident as I am intrigued as to what possible assistance the QRA could have been to the airline crew. On the one occasion that I have been intercepted (by French Mirages) they just caused distress for my pax.