(If I was the Indian goverment I'd have make an earlier offer on one of the Invincibles. I would think refurbishing the Ark Royal would still be cheaper than what they've got in place with the Russian carrier - but by now that is not an option)
With the procurment disaster that is
Admiral Gorshkov / Vikramaditya, picking up a carrier to replace
Viraat (
Ex-Hermes) at scrapyard prices would be a very good deal. They would still need to refit the ship get get it up to standards but it couldn't help but be cheaper than the current program.
This is news doing the rounds here down under - by the sounds of it, the Ark Royal is to be removed from service immeditely. With Invincible laid-up, how much longer will Illustrious last? How will the RN maintain their competency in carrier ops if they don't have any left?
Illustrious got the refit that was still pending for
Ark Royal, and is thus in better shape. My guess is
Queen Elizabeth will end up as a CATOBAR carrier just due to delays in her building, even if she goes in for the refit right as
Prince of Wales comes out.
The RN really came out of this defense review about as good as it could have. They get to keep the carriers, the T45s, 17 frigates, the Amphibious fleet, 7 SSNs, and 3 SSBNs. In short, they kept all the really important parts.