Change is inevitable. NONE of our forces are what they once were....

 I did a post where I slammed a British Admiral that was saying (paraphrasing) that a British carrier swayed US public opinion.

The push back from Brit readers was intense.

I get it.

No one wants to hear that they're not what they once were.  Sucks on an individual level and sucks on the international stage.

But facts are facts.

The fight in the Pacific is a naval battle.  Once the Brits owned the oceans. They don't anymore.

The problem for the Brits is that they're not making choices.  They're not optimizing their forces.  Where can they help the most (assuming that one of their primary considerations is to partner with the US)?

Focus on Europe.

If they can be the force that can stand in the gap, be the high readiness force for Europe then they take that pressure off the US.

If they optimize their Special Ops forces to conduct missions in Africa and the Middle East (in partnership with the SOCOM) then they are being useful.

Sending a carrier to the Pacific ain't getting that done.

We've done it before but let's do it again just for shits and giggles...

Let's do a breakdown (from your viewpoint of things) of how each nation ranks in the air, ground and sea realms.

Land Warfare.

1.  Poland

2.  France

3.  Netherlands

Aerial Warfare.

1.  UK/France

2.  Italy

3.  Netherlands

Naval Warfare.

1.  France

2.  Italy

3.  UK

So looking at this list the UK is sub optimized to perform the vital support role that I envision it to serve if supporting US (and their own foreign policy) is the goal.

The British Army is INCAPABLE of operating in peer vs peer combat at this time (it will take a decade to fix what's been broken).  At best British Infantry will perform raids or fight in urban areas but as far as maneuver warfare is concerned they're behind the power curve.

The British Navy is working hard to improve but when compared to other nation states in Europe they're middling at best.  In the Pacific they're totally outclassed by S. Korea, Japan and maybe even India.  Using their carriers to serve as lilly pads for USMC F-35s is cute and God knows the Pentagon loves the "interoperability" idiocy but if you have a carrier and we have to provide the planes then really what good are ya?

British Airpower is kinda confusing to me.  They have (or will have) a nice fighter force but that's assuming the F-35 is the world beater everyone claims (which is in doubt considering the GAO report).  Their Typhoons seem capable but their cargo capability has been slammed to hell with the early retirement of the C-130s.

Let me close with this.

NONE OF OUR FORCES ARE WHAT THEY ONCE WERE!  If you look at Europe the only nation that is actually moving with speed to upgrade their forces is Poland.  France is slow and steady with their plan (probably the best upgrade of ground forces I've seen...they lack counter drone planning but maneuver warfare they're all in on it).  The Netherlands is moving with speed too.  The Germans are the Germans.  Head in the sand and begging for forgiveness and still whipping themselves over WW2.  Italy is doing some things and so is Spain (yeah Spain is getting stuff done).

The UK?

Disaster after disaster. 

The UK needs to decide what it can and is willing to pay to do. Now they're just trying to do everything and that ain't working.