A third Queen Elizabeth would turn availability into a standing carrier commitment

What difference would a third Queen Elizabeth-class carrier make?

Continuous carrier availability is the proposed gain, with more escorts and aircraft needed to make the extra hull useful.

A third Queen Elizabeth-class carrier is proposed as a way to sustain one available carrier continuously. It would require a larger escort force and more F-35Bs. The example uses nine Type 45s, with some completed as general-purpose ships carrying Mk 41 launchers. Suggested groups combine two air-defence destroyers, two general-purpose destroyers, and anti-submarine frigates. A catapult-equipped carrier is also raised as a possibility. Clarke claims that delays left Britain paying something like the cost of three and a half ships, including development; he supplies no itemised estimate for that comparison.