Four identical replacement carriers could rotate between active strike duty, refit, hot standby, and Royal Marines helicopter support. Keeping catapults and the same basic hull configuration on all four would allow the helicopter carrier to embark Fleet Air Arm squadrons when a crisis required more strike capacity. Two carriers would already be at sea, with a third able to follow soon afterwards. Once the immediate need for several strike carriers passed, one could return to amphibious support, or the fourth could take that role after leaving refit. A hypothetical Falklands crisis tests this allocation: the stronger carrier force is expected to discourage an invasion, while Hawkeye support would reduce the number of carriers needed if fighting still occurred.
Chapter · 1:29:52-1:34:02
A four-carrier replacement cycle for the 1980s
Four identical carriers could keep two hulls at sea and surge a third by changing the Royal Marines support ship's air group.