The Royal Navy's Polaris programme had secured major funding while the RAF faced the loss of its V-force strategic role. The RAF answered by proposing land-based aircraft as an alternative global tactical strike capability to the Navy's carriers. That case helped justify cutting the carrier programme, but the F-111 purchase was itself cancelled in 1968. The service expected a share of a new funding settlement and instead found its proposal used to reduce the total force, leaving no institutional winner.
Chapter · 36:33-38:51
Polaris funding and the RAF's missing F-111
The RAF's bid to replace its declining V-force with a global strike role helped cancel the carrier but did not secure the promised F-111s.