A fully equipped F-35 airfield is an obvious target because its runways and specialist facilities cannot move. The United States can make a serious case for protecting fixed bases with theater and point-defense systems, whereas Britain lacks a comparable layered missile network for its air stations. Royal Navy carriers are frequently criticized for requiring Type 45 escorts, yet those ships can relocate while the country's air bases cannot. A land-based missile capability comparable in role to Patriot is proposed for the British armed forces so that fixed air bases also receive stronger protection.
Notable Point · 3:03-5:21
Mobile carriers expose the weakness of undefended fixed air bases
The comparison between carrier groups and British airfields turns the usual vulnerability argument into a wider question about layered air defense.