With manned aircraft, carriers are not a cost-effective way to counter insurgents and terrorists, and will face budget cuts in order to fund other, less costly sources of airpower.
An unmanned aircraft like N-UCAS solves both these problems at once, providing a cost-effective capability that allows the carriers to find and attack terrorists and insurgents, and also to counter cruise and ballistic missile threats from a survivable distance.
Counter-terrorism officers say muscular powers of arrest enable them to disrupt terrorists' networks and their plans to attack, even when there is insufficient evidence to convict them.
These include closer co-operation between national intelligence agencies, the creation of an EU counter-terrorism chief, and measures that make it easier to trace terrorists who use mobile phones and e-mail.
For one thing those on the front line in counter-terrorism warn that it risks cutting off vital local intelligence and serving as a recruiting sergeant for terrorists.