Japan's carrier experience before war with the United States included sustained operations in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lessons from China influenced aircraft development and helped bring the Zero into service. An intensely offensive culture had come close to treating fighters as expendable because they did not directly deliver the main strike and seemed limited in pre-radar fleet defense. Operational experience showed that fighters could escort attack formations and intercept incoming aircraft even without radar direction. Combat evidence, as much as technology, changed the doctrine.
Notable Point · 48:32-49:40
War in China validates the carrier fighter
Experience in the Second Sino-Japanese War helped reverse Japanese doubts about fighters by demonstrating their value in escort and interception before radar.