I support a complementary mix of land and sea-based air but I can't let some statements stand.
Actually it seems like we are getting slightly more out of the land-based Rafales than we are out of the carrier-based ones...
- According to reports, a/c from Charles de Gaulle have provided over a quarter of all NATO attacks (link). Are you saying that French land-based a/c have provided even more? Where does that leave the UK if the Danes and Norwegians have struck a third of the targets (with only 12% of the aircraft) while Belgium and Canada have also made major contributions (link)?
- Charles de Gaulle typically launches 35 to 40 sorties per day (link). How many do the similar number of RAF a/c at Gioia in Italy achieve while spending 2-3 hours of each sortie in transit?
- not just due to the regular 'down-days' and port visits the carrier has
- What down days and port visits? Charles de Gaulle sailed Toulon on 20 March and has been re-supplied at sea.
- Before they were withdrawn, even Kearsarge's Harrier AV-8Bs were flying two sorties per night and making quite an impression (link).
Marginal costs of a Harrier, Typhoon or Tornado hour (fuel, spares etc) is just under 4k. So, to be cheaper the additional hours flown from land would need to exceed 250 (1M / 4k).
- Harrier £37k per flying hour. Typhoon £70k and Tornado £35k (link).
- Doesn't spending two or three hours of every sortie in transit also affect Time On Task as well as the cost of extra fuel, tanker support and airframe usage?
When not required, land-based a/c and their associated personnel will sit at a base in the UK for months on end while awaiting the next call. In the meantime, a carrier will roam the oceans performing defence diplomacy and exercise soft power with its physical presence while supporting maritime interdiction ops and gathering intelligence (especially valuable since the scrapping of MRA4s) or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief. When necessary, it can move 500 nm per day to provide its services, act as a deterrent, poise unseen over the horizon as a contingency, apply hard power or simply slip away again if no need materialises.