But when will we have F-35? If you believe project timescales you'll believe anything.
Without an interception radar, and controlled by AEW from a Falklands stop-gap, OTH capability is severely limited in any Harrier GR. Defence against cruise missiles will be especially poor. There are a lot of Russian and Chinese built missiles out there, simple but the defence against them is a layered defence. If there is one thing that was learnt in the Falklands it is that we cannot afford to give up a layer. We may be safe on paper, but in reality something always goes wrong in the end.