Is England trying to stir the pot over the Falkland Islands?

I don't think it is hot air at all. When the oil finds become proven & oilfields are setup, even though "money talks & honesty walks", there is no way in hell the current, or future for that matter, British Forces have the capacity to hold or even retake them shoud the Argentenians attack once more.

We may have the air power & the ground forces with the same determination as in 1982 but without aircraft carriers, it is not possible.

Can you see the French taking their carriers into a war zone just so that British aircraft can land/take off?
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At the moment it's all mainly sabre rattling. Although you can be pretty much sure that the UK has a nuclear sub already down there.

Guardian

Dauntless

We may have the air power & the ground forces with the same determination as in 1982 but without aircraft carriers, it is not possible.

Naval surface warfare is a thing of the past.

The Daring class are often considered the most powerful air-defence warships in the world. The ship's capabilities centre on the SAMPSON Multi Function Radar which can detect hundreds of targets out to a distance of 400 km (250 mi) and the Sea Viper missile system. In addition Daring's S1850M 3D air surveillance radar is capable of detecting 1,000 targets up to 400 km (250 mi). It is also capable of detecting outer atmosphere objects such as ballistic missiles

Naval surface warfare is a thing of the past.

I rather think not, and nor does the Royal Navy.

The Daring class are often considered the most powerful air-defence warships in the world. The ship's capabilities centre on the SAMPSON Multi Function Radar which can detect hundreds of targets out to a distance of 400 km (250 mi) and the Sea Viper missile system. In addition Daring's S1850M 3D air surveillance radar is capable of detecting 1,000 targets up to 400 km (250 mi). It is also capable of detecting outer atmosphere objects such as ballistic missiles

How many anti-ship missiles does it take to put a carrier task force in Davy Jones locker?

Naval surface warfare is a thing of the past.

I think that if Naval surface warfare was really a thing of the past, then every country with a navy would disband it and save some money. I didn't take Gary's comment too seriously and I don't think he or anyone else has :-)

CVN 78 & 79 are still planned to go ahead as far as I know.

There are expected to be ten ships of this class. To date, three have been announced:

Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), (2015) – Scheduled to replace Enterprise (CVN-65).
John F. Kennedy (CVN-79)[1], (2018) – Scheduled to replace Nimitz (CVN-68).
CVN-80 – Scheduled to replace Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).

Well the best way to project force without the need to use it is by having a carrier force off the coast (or within striking distance anyway) of a potential enemy.

At this, even though they have always been know to be brash & liking the axiom "Bigger & Better", the yanks are the top dogs.

And until something better enters the picture, carrier forces will still be with us for sometime to come.
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Worth a comment that Russia appears to be going the Sub route rather than top end surface warships or Carriers.

Russian Navy

How many anti-ship missiles does it take to put a carrier task force in Davy Jones locker?

Naval surface warfare is a thing of the past.

Is that a fact? Then explain this....

but the main line battle ship is clearly out of date. no sense sending out a 16 inch dumb round when you can fire a missile and hit your target with absolute accuracy.

HMS Dauntless

Anti-air missiles;
Sea Viper air defence system.
48 cell SYLVER A50 VLS, for a combination of 48;
Aster 15 missiles (range 2-30 km)
Aster 30 missiles (range 3-120 km)

Guns;
1× BAE 4.5 inch Mk8 Mod. 1 gun
2× 30 mm guns
2× Phalanx CIWS
2× Miniguns
6× General-purpose machine guns

Provision for but not fitted with;
2× Quad Boeing AGM-84 Harpoon launchers (8 anti-ship missiles)
BGM-109 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles

Please read my previous post carefully. I did mention the Iraq war.

to quote a USS Missouri website

In 1955, the Missouri was decommissioned and mothballed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. But in 1986, the USS Missouri was recommissioned after undergoing an extensive modernization and refurbishment. In 1991, the Mighty Mo was deployed to the Persian Gulf where it fired its 16-inch guns and launched Tomahawk missiles against Iraqi positions during Operation Desert Storm.

what size were those guns again. Oh yeah 16 inches.

Big Mo was retired 1 year later