Re: Chocolate Teapot
This reminds me strongly of the lamentable story of tank procurement during WW2. Britain began the war with the excellent Matilda II infantry tank, which - in 1940 - was immune to German tank cannon and normal anti-tank guns. The only thing that could stop a Matilda II was the 88 mm dual role AA gun, which weighed tons and was extremely vulnerable. It is no exaggeration to say that the Matilda II was the Tiger of 1940.
Naturally, tank development went into overdrive as soon as the fighting began, and soon the Germans were finding that their Panzer III and IV tanks were outclassed by the hitherto secret Russian T34 and KV1. Accordingly, the Germans created the Tiger and Panther series, which dominated battlefields for the rest of the war. (The Tiger was essentially a mobile 88 mm with armour thick enough to defeat almost any anti-tank weapon).
Meanwhile, Britain messed around, designing and building dozens of different new tanks - none of which was adequate. Either they were too slow, or too vulnerable, or undergunned, or prone to break down - quite often all four.
Then, in 1945, just in time for the victory parades, British industry and the War Office produced the Comet - more or less as good as the best German and Russian tanks - shortly followed by the even better Centurion. Pity they couldn't have done so in less than five years, as an awful lot of lives would have been saved.
It looks as if these wonderful new carriers will be a similar tale of delay, incompetence and inadequacy. Thank God we don't actually need them for anything... except to boost sales, maintain jobs, and above all make certain politicians look good. (All of which they are doing quite satisfactorily).