FinningleyBoy,
It is an interesting question, although if you are a politician / very senior officer then the answer is obvious - of course we are more capable now than 10 years ago.
Now I wouldn't argue that our technical capabilities have come on in leaps and bounds. But I would qualify it by saying our remaining technical capabilities have come on in leaps and bounds - I would hardly say that in terms of MPA we were in a better place now than 10 years ago.
But you can also look at it in terms of numbers. Typhoon and JSF may well be outstanding platforms, so the future looks rosy, but they can't be in 2 places at once. Quantity certainly has a role to play in determining overall quality, hence why we are now struggling to maintain our current level of commitments in multiple locations and operations, which I would argue might not have been the case to the same extent 10 years ago.