Q&A ยท 2:32:01-2:33:28

Interwar Italy's jet counterfactual depends on supporting infrastructure

The counterfactual turns on supporting infrastructure and the difficulty of keeping advanced aviation technology secret.

Question

What changes if interwar Italy receives 1950s jet technology before the Second Italo-Ethiopian War?

Short answer

The technology would have limited value without supporting infrastructure, and foreign intelligence penetration could compromise its secrecy.

Notes

Giving the Regia Aeronautica 1950s jet technology before the war in Abyssinia would accomplish little without the infrastructure to support it. The counterfactual depends on Italy also having that supporting capacity. A second concern is whether Italy could keep the technology secret. Italian aviation industry is characterized here as heavily penetrated by foreign intelligence, making the secrecy of the proposed advantage doubtful.