ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the political debate that arose the two alternatives and the 'neutral' study made by the Chief Scientific Advisor. It deals with the steps towards the costly carrier replacement programme. The chapter focuses on the criticism raised between the services. It discusses the debate which followed from the Chief Scientific Advisor's study. The Admiralty criticised the fact that the Air Ministry's Island Strategy had not been put under any such examination of costs from a joint group. Both the Air Ministry and the Admiralty brought criticism to the study conducted by the Chief Scientific Advisor in the winter of 1963. The Air Staff argued that the conclusion of 'carrier essentiality' in the Chief Scientific Advisor studies was mainly made up of some 'arbitrary escalation of ideas'. Another Air Staff criticism of the Carrier Task Force strategy was the use of this force for military presence or 'naval diplomacy'.
