Long-range patrol aircraft still need a base network

Would very-long-range maritime patrol aircraft be a better answer to Soviet surface raiders than relying primarily on more carriers?

They could be excellent search platforms, but only if Britain funded the aircraft, crews, and forward base network in peacetime.

Large, long-range maritime patrol aircraft could find Soviet surface raiders, then hand the target to submarines, Buccaneers, Nimrods, or a carrier strike. Britain would still need equipped bases across places such as the central Atlantic islands, plus aircraft and trained crews already available in peacetime. Surface raiders exploit the reluctance of governments to pay for that dispersed readiness before a crisis begins.