KenV - You are stretching the facilities argument a bit.
Correct, lots of things are designed within the limits of C-130s and aircraft carriers. But those in turn are designed within limits: You can easily make a bigger transport but it will cost more (A400M). Carriers are pushing all sorts of ship-size limits. The bigger carrier and transport will also cost more to operate, where a bigger ramp only costs more when you have to shovel the snow off it. Concrete is far, far cheaper than anything that moves.
As for STOVL: a full-time operational STOVL base costs the same as a CTOL base. The Marines did not want cheaper facilities; they wanted to be free of facilities altogether.
Tanker orbits do count. But in the case of the KC-X competition both sides were required to produce the same numbers.
And BTW, the Roman connection to the SRB diameter is mostly hoggus washus.
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.asp