If it's decided to go appropriate carrier escorts for carrier fleets (and escorts can only run while escorting...)
Per SFB, the escorts are designed with small "fighter bays", in order to assist the main carrier in "servicing" the fighters. Perhaps, for SFC, if we took and made these full "fighter bays", complete with a fighter compliment, we can get the 40+ fighters for the ID/IC (4x4 on Iron, 3x4 (additional 1x4 if hydran escorts are also allocated fighters) on 2 wingmen = 16 + 12 +12 = 40), 24 packs for the CVAs, etc., by putting the excess fighters on the escorts:
F-CVA group: CVA gets 16. NEA gets 2 x 2 or 1 x 4 (20 in fleet), DEA same. 24 fighters. CVA carries 3x flights F14, rest of fighters the A10 model.
While this does make solo escorts a bit more powerful, hopefully they won't be abused (through a proper rule...
) and it gives full SFB squadrons. To be "fair" to the PF races, they want a 6 pk of PFs on the table, they need a casual tender to "escort" the true PF tender... (or play a true Rommie Chickenhawk squad
)