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Anthony Davies's avatar

Great article, thank you. I get the argument of what it achieves. My challenge is what about the intervening four years between deployments. If we buy that it deters when it's in theatre, what about the years that it's not. Unless it is part of an allied rota of continual carrier presence then it is not really deterrence apart from the two months it's in that theatre. If a hostile actor has moved between deployments then the carrier can only be a reaction to a fait accompli.

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Dr Emma Salisbury's avatar

Thank you! There's coordination between European navies - the French did 2024, and the Italians the one prior.

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Anthony Davies's avatar

Thanks for taking the time Emma. I presume we're talking about one month each way per deployment in a defined theatre. So two months in the western Pacific, two months in the Indian ocean, two months in med. So a euro carrier presence each year of two months out of twelve. Unless we consider it as augmenting US carrier groups as they pass by.

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