German carrier construction would make dive bombing more valuable to the Royal Navy, while RAF control of naval aircraft remains the underlying institutional problem. The Admiralty had already pursued a dive-bomber capability through indirect means. Vickers developed a sight to British standards despite having no declared customer, and the surrounding accounts record vaguely described gunnery payments. The timing and receipts suggest that those payments financed the sight, but the connection cannot be proved. Institutional limits may therefore have pushed the Admiralty toward an indirect procurement route.
Notable Point · 1:04:43-1:05:59
A dive-bombing sight may reveal an Admiralty workaround
Vickers' unexplained British-standard dive-bombing sight and vague Admiralty gunnery payments suggest, but do not prove, an effort to work around RAF control of naval aviation.