The closing counterfactual returns to the chain from the First World War and the unfinished Normandie class to Bearn's weak institutional legacy. France could plausibly design a useful carrier around 18,000 tons, close to Joffre's planned displacement. Had two such ships entered service alongside the Dunkirks with French twin-engine aircraft, other carrier navies might have reacted to the combination. Multi-role twin-engine machines able to serve as fighters and bombers could have influenced British, American, and Japanese procurement before the Second World War. The question is explicitly counterfactual and asks viewers to weigh how institutional choices can suppress promising technical ideas.
Notable Point · 1:17:10-1:21:34
An early Joffre and twin-engine carrier aircraft
The closing counterfactual asks how two earlier Joffre-like carriers and French twin-engine aircraft might have changed international carrier-air-group development.