Invincible has been little more than a hulk for years, being cannibalised for spares for the other two carriers.
Illustrious is currently under refit (in the North East I think) and there is a study going on to decide whether either she or HMS Ocean shouild be retained as a helicopter carrier. In view of the comments made about the condition of Ocean elsewhere on this Forum, her low speed and the fact that she was due to be decommissioned shortly anyway I hope that the choice will be Illustrious as. like the Ark, she has been upgraded fairly recentlly but given recent defence decisions one has to wonder if they are capable of making the right one. Ocean was due to have been replaced with a more effective vessel but this will never happen now.
Incidentally, there was a report in the papers this weekend that. as a result of the Defence Review, the RAF will have almost excactly the same number of fast jets as Sweden in future, way down the European rankings.
Colin
