Could this perhaps be in addition to the 4 additional Tornadoes that was recently announced?

Bingo:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/04/06/355281/libya-uk-commits-eurofighter-typhoons-for-ground-attack-duties.html

This article implies that RAF Typhoons are being deployed to perform an a2g role, has anybody seen anything from another source confirming this? The MoD site doesn’t say anything at present.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12983294

I think it’s typically rubbish BBC reporting on defence matters, I think the only thing significant is that 4 more RAF aircraft are going to be operating out of Italian airbases.

Excellent news, potential for exports is very nice as well.

How would the final price of this ship compare with another 45,000 ton aircraft carrier? Say…..Charles de Gaul?

That would be a rather poor comparison to make since CdG was new and nuclear powered.

Well they have been proved wrong within six months. If this situation had occurred six months later we would not have enough GR4 squadrons to commit as well as providing cover in Afganistan. On top of this our Nimrod R1’s would have gone. The Sentinel, which is going as soon we pull out of Afganistan, is ideal for policing troop movements in Libya, but was not seen as worth keeping. Regeneration of lost air and sea capacity takes decades whilst land force capacity can be regenerated far quicker yet we are going to be left with a disproportionately large army which we will not be able to fully exploit due to lack of supporting air and sea forces.

I never said I agreed with them, you’re preaching to the choir.

Dennant has already been on sky news, defending the focus of the defence cuts and minimising the UK’s contribution to policing the no fly zone. He said we should continue to focus on Afgan!! But then again he would say so as it was the generals who told Cameron that any future conflict would involve us sending the army and that we didn’t need any fast jets anymore!

Actually what they said was more along the lines of needing less fast jets and ships.

just a thought, but i wonder if the RAF was keen to run the initial Stormshadow raids from Marham to show it still has a long range strike capability (and that the world doesn’t revolve around carrier strike).

I’m not trying to be mischievous, it just rings a bell from what i have read of Operation Black Buck during the Falkland War.

The involvement of 4 GR4s did sound a little ‘me too’ especially when you consider the US Navy and a RN Trafalgar class launched over a hundred Tomahawks.