The Royal Marines' missing amphibious lift

Is the Royal Navy likely to regain a helicopter carrier, or has the Royal Marines' role changed?

The larger problem is the loss of amphibious lift; carriers can provide air cover, but they do not replace landing ships, craft, and heavy-equipment capacity.

Air cover and amphibious lift solve different problems. A carrier and escorts can protect a task group, but helicopters alone cannot move the Marines' heavy equipment ashore. The former combination of Ocean, two LPDs, four landing ships, numerous landing craft and helicopter capacity could support roughly a brigade-sized force. That comparison assumes all four landing ships, both LPDs and Ocean were available together. The stated total is sixteen LCUs, sixteen LCVPs, four light hovercraft, helicopters and roughly 4,000 Marines. The assessment is that the fleet no longer has that scale of landing capacity, while a future return to a helicopter carrier is left uncertain.