That’s the press for you they have nothing better to do it seems and they seem to have realised that Defence is a miniscule higher on the national agenda so think they can sell more papers. I must add however that it is not that farfetched at all and is maybe inevitable that it will happen.

Harry I think our views are similar, I don’t think brazil needs another carrier and would do better to spend the money elsewhere ideally starting with some decent surface combatants then maybe an LPH/amphibious capacity and so on. Going for a carrier that will be a big white elephant seems daft to me. Spending the cash getting decent surface combatants would be my priority as well as improving deployment ratios and training would be priorities. Then with further funding I would add some replenishment ships similar to the Aegir 18R and start deploying overseas and working with European friends and making connections abroad. Then with even more funding I would add the higher end amphibious capabilities starting with something very close to the Mistral as it covers all the bases. Finally if I had the need and the funds I would add the carrier and air group into the mix basically a staged expansion rather than trying to maintain a carrier that I have little need for.

The Romeo and Juliet designs are still on paper and nobody is building them whereas the CVF will be built and will be cheap enough to run or else the RN would not be getting it. Furthermore the trend is for larger designs and operating a CVF class would not be much more than operating a CdG derivative so the larger design would be more sensible.

Exactly it would take months to move disperse RAF assets that if they don’t get destroyed on the ground or stuck at a base with no runway or taxiway. Far fetched but what are we going to do if **** happens we cannot see the future.

I meant largest by number of aircraft stationed there and personnel rather than the size of the base itself as it would have over 120 aircraft as well as all the instructors and trainees not to mention the helicopter side of things. Brize Norton may rival it for the busiest RAF base but it would be pretty close as all those hawks and trainees would generate dozens of sorties each day and the air controllers would have a busy time of it coordinating lots of small fast aircraft at all levels.

In future i can see all of the transport assets at Brize as the fleet will be pretty small enough for one base with around 24 J model hercs, 25 A400M, 6 C-17 and around 4 A330 MRTT’s.

EDIT: Just remembered if both RAF Linton-on-Ouse and RAF Leeming were closed and the aircraft moved to RAF Valley it would without a doubt be the busiest UK base maybe even busiest European base as you would also have the turboprop trainer fleets based there. Is there even enough room for all those aircraft??

I’m aware of that Brazil is a friendly country and will no doubt be a good friend but the reason I mentioned it is that it may pop up and the question could be asked if they wanted to buy a CVF. I have no doubt that it would be squashed but is none the less something to think about. What you say is none the less true in regards to the regions past and its stance on the matter, the history also explains Chile’s stance on the matter.

The Brazilian carrier question is no doubt an interesting question and so are most things to do with South Americas largest power and one of the world’s future leaders.

Scooter, it would be an option as it is around the correct size and would be affordable although would need converted to CATOBAR for use with Rafales if they are purchased.

In my opinion the design has more teeth than what is needed by Australia and as pointed out lacks the Helicopter facilities that I would argue are a must rather than an option.

I’ve no idea how the hell quadbike managed to somehow allow that thought to progress from brain to keyboard. It’s a carrier so it must be able to operate aircraft that we A. Have or B. Will have. The only options are Ski Jump or Catapult so it must have one or the other every image clearly shows a Ski Jump and there is a long history of should it have catapults. He clearly has put no thought into that post or even looked up what the CVF is or seen a picture or anything at all.

Sorry for the rant but come on were using the internet here the largest collection of knowledge known to man.