james
Have the Royal Navy never undertaken a 'relief in place' (I know they have because WEBF usually posts a link when one T23/T25/T42 is replaced bya nother
). In reality this is all that the RAF and Army are doing as well by having 'x' number of personal and equipment to meet 'y' task. You've got to remember that once the RAF / Army have deployed then routine training for those crews/assets (i.e equipment) stops. Deploy these crews for too long and they suffer skill fade (amongst other things) and at some point the aircraft will generally require some form of depth maintenance.
the comment was really aimed more at manning and infrastructure than aircraft levels
Even when the SHAR was about they required a land base (Yeovilton) to train and a carrier or two from which to train/fight. IIRC it was three squadrons (801, 802 and 899). So still two locations and two sets of manning (RNAS Yeovilton still had manpower that was not part of the carrier). Granted there were other assets at Yeovilton but the RN still had the same problem. Even the F35 will have a land base (or two). The big difference between the two services is how harmony is calculated (again, another thread all on its own!). And for family life I'd rather have the RAF policy than the RN! But that, as ever, is just my opinion!