Can anyone shed light on what this first QEC Aircraft Carrier will do for the 3 years until the first sea trials, or indeed the 4 years until flight trials will take place?
Looks to me like an aircraft carrier not at sea is a aircraft carrier wasted (i.e. we need 2 not 1 so one can be in refit); it also means that it if it IS at sea, without aircraft on board, it's not really an aircraft carrier but a massive floating platform costing money but potentially not doing much. Sure we'll put helicopters on it. We know we need those.
All in all, it seems to be a really porked up situation. One thing is for certain, the carrier is impotent without the aircraft; the cost of F-35 to the UK pales into insignificance in comparison to these two behemoths. If we sold them, assuming someone would buy them (India, China, etc), we could certainly afford a weightier F-35 Force and it wouldn't have to be STOVL either......
I'm personally of the opinion that we haven't needed a carrier since 1982. We've also coped extremely well since we stopped putting fast air on CVS in 2010. ELLAMY didn't need it and neither would any immediate problem such as Syria, Iran or whatever. Again, my opinion.