Whilst the lunacy of scrapping the superlative SHAR F/A2 left the Fleet with only an eyeball organic AD asset (for the first time since the Scimitar); GR9 on its own doesn't really carry the argument.
Whereas F-18E/F/G Sea Hornet air groups on the otherwise aircraftless carriers would make eminent sense.
Foxy needs to look at the history books for the year 1982.