The counterfactual asks whether earlier Royal Navy control of Fleet Air Arm procurement would have exposed the shortage of British carrier fighters sooner. An American order was plausible because the United States was already a reliable weapons supplier. Britain also bought American machine tools while expanding factories and mobilizing personnel, so procurement extended beyond finished aircraft. Aircraft availability depended on production equipment and labor as much as design preference. Earlier control might have produced a Wildcat order, though the Brewster Buffalo remained another possible outcome.
Chapter · 2:01-4:25
Fleet Air Arm control, American fighters, and industrial capacity
British carrier-fighter choices turn on Fleet Air Arm control, access to American aircraft, and the machine tools needed to expand wartime production.