The scenario begins with a January 1939 conflict around Tsingtao and follows its effect on British aircraft priorities. Historically, home defence, the Battle of Britain, and fighting in Europe and North Africa directed production toward land-based types. A Far Eastern war would still expand Royal Air Force fighter and bomber output, but factories safe from bombing and a campaign centred at sea could leave more capacity for the Fleet Air Arm. The Hawker Sea Fury is used as an example of a capable design that historically arrived near the end of or just after the war, after wartime production had prioritised land-based aircraft. Earlier naval fighters and strike aircraft become more plausible under different industrial priorities, though later designs cannot simply be moved into 1939 unchanged.
Chapter · 0:08-3:16
A Far Eastern war changes British air priorities
An early Far Eastern war would make British rearmament more naval from the outset, altering the balance between home defence and Fleet Air Arm production.