Carrier air wings and loyal-wingman tradeoffs

Why might Britain limit near-term F-35 purchases instead of immediately buying the full planned fleet?

Because loyal-wingman aircraft may add carrier air power more compactly, so the final manned-unmanned mix remains unsettled.

A notional wartime air group might place about eighteen F-35s and eighteen Merlin helicopters aboard a Queen Elizabeth-class carrier. The Merlins would divide among anti-submarine warfare, airborne early warning, commando, and supply duties. Smaller unmanned loyal wingmen could add combat mass without consuming the hangar volume required by the same number of crewed jets. Britain could therefore defer the final size of its F-35 fleet until the unmanned programs mature. The force-structure problem is how to balance strike aircraft, enabling helicopters, storage space, and uncertain future technology.