Project B placed its targets about fifty miles off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, far enough offshore to test more than bomb effects. Mitchell argued that the distance reduced aircraft time over the targets and favored ship survival. That objection also challenged his larger claim that land-based air power could replace the Navy in continental defense. A force unable to operate reliably at that distance would require a dense chain of airfields and would struggle to protect merchant shipping, coastal trade, and approaches used by an enemy fleet. Warships could choose when to enter aircraft range instead of waiting as fixed targets. The test geometry revealed the logistical difference between demonstrating a weapon and sustaining maritime defense.
Notable Point · 48:47-52:08
The Chesapeake range tested air defense claims as well as bombs
Mitchell objected that targets fifty miles off Chesapeake Bay disadvantaged aircraft, but that distance exposed the basing and range burden in replacing the Navy as America's first defense line.