CATOBAR might offer a more capable engineering solution, but the Royal Navy needed a carrier choice that did not threaten Royal Air Force aircraft and AEW programmes. An F-35C and Hawkeye fleet could invite Treasury questions about continuing both Eurofighter and land-based airborne-warning programmes. Those risks could rally opposition to the carrier within the defence establishment. Political feasibility could decide whether Britain obtained a limited carrier or no carrier at all.
Notable Point · 54:56-57:13
Procurement politics can determine the carrier a navy gets
The technically superior carrier concept is not always the design a navy can secure through inter-service and Treasury politics.