RN Invincible-class - Gulf War 1 ?

[Archibald]

As said in the title. Considering how well they did in the Falklands,why were the Invincible-class carriers and their SHAR, nowhere to be seen during Operation Granby ?

RAF vengence ? SHAR mk.2 not ready ? (until 1993 - from a 1988 first flight ? why so long ?)

 

[Grey Havoc]

The available carriers simply couldn't be spared from their NATO commitments, especially with the then still ongoing chaos in Eastern Europe.

 

[Fluff]

There was no shortage of airbases within striking distance of Iraq, and a dozen or so harriers would have made no difference. The most used aircraft were Bucs/Tornadoes/Strike Eagle etc.
Short range attack was left to the heli fleet.

So probably left in Europe to keep a lid on Europe, while the armies and aircraft were in ME.

 

[Hood]

HMS Ark Royal was in the Med at the time. There is a very interesting discussion here: https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/c...no-2-first-gulf-war-25th-anniversary-special/
In particular p.106 to p.108 of the PDF. The government had already made the decision there was no need to send a carrier to the Gulf; the USN was already committing no less than seven carriers and there was an abundance of ground-based airpower.