Small Point of order...HMS Sheffield is a Type 22 Batch 2 built in 1987, the Sheffield Type 42 was the one sunk in the Falklands War. She is the last Broadsword Class in service without a gun.
Will some of those reduced destroyers numbers be the new Type 45s, which should be looking after the carriers?
One more point on the carrier front. Will the new JSF air wings have their own AAR or will they be dependant on land based tankers, like the USN is increasingly finding itself when on real ops. The Ark had Bucc buddy tankers and the Yanks had some serious onboard AAR during Vietnam (KA-3 and KA-6). Since the last KA-6 left the US fleet they have had a problem launching those big Alpha strikes without land based tanker support. With the RAF still umming and ahhing about the VC10 tanker replacement those new floating gin palaces had better be shallow draft so they can get as close to their targets as possible.