"If we had a carrier on station, it would have had its own AEW"
Sentry does a lot more than just AEW.
" not needed AAR"
VC10 is about tanking other nations assets too, and not just our own. Its a very useful coalition capability.
"light Blue have contributed less than 10% of the sorties"
Its effect on the target and not statistics that matters. Overall sortie numbers compared to Kosovo are (IIRC) roughly the same, despite there being 30% less aircraft. But as 101% of statistics are made up, its not an issue is it
"We need 4 carrier capable F35 sqns to be truly effective"
Given the RN was struggling to fill 1 enhanced Sqn (and by all accounts I've heard spent nearly 25 years struggling to sustain the 2 front line / 1 training harrier squadron), I'm looking forward to seeing where these squadrons will come from. Have we adopted Imperial Cloning Vats yet?