Originally Posted by glojo
....It is 'bonkers' to suggest that aircraft operating from the UK or Italy can respond or react as quickly as any aircraft stationed just 50 miles from the required scenes of the current action. (which was a known event when this decision was made) It is 'bonkers' to try to suggest otherwise....
The point that has been made repeatedly is that the Italy-based ac don't need to "respond" or "react", they're
already on task iaw the ATO. So they'll be quicker to respond or react to events as they're already airborne and in the AO. The carrier-based ac would still need to start-up and transit to the area. If more ac (weapons) are needed, they should already be airborne iaw the ATO. So, ground-alert is not necessary. There's no "race" between jets on the runway in Italy and jets on the carrier. The scenario you suggest simply does not apply to Libya.
The UK-based ac are not on quick-reaction missions either. So again, respond and react don't apply here.