Scarf, say, for East Ender that can be afforded by fighter (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
air cover
'scarf say for east ender that' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'be afforded by fighter' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'be' could be 'cover' (covering is a kind of being) and 'cover' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'air' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'can' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for air cover that I've seen before include "Planes giving protection" , "Protection given by planes" , "support of planes" .)