Why helicopters would not light the Taranto strike

Could helicopters carry flares for the Swordfish attack at Taranto?

They could carry flares, but their shorter range would require the carriers to approach much closer, making the idea unlikely.

A helicopter can carry flares, but its range determines whether it belongs in the Taranto strike package. The Whirlwind benchmark reaches about 290 nautical miles, while a torpedo-carrying Swordfish can manage roughly 454 nautical miles. Sending both from the same ship would force the carrier much closer to the Italian base than the fixed-wing plan requires. Helicopter illumination is therefore operationally unattractive even though the payload itself is possible. The comparison shows why rotary-wing aircraft complement rather than replace longer-ranged carrier aircraft.