The Fleet Air Arm struggled to justify better fighters and to resist cancellation of the Seafire project in 1939. Air Ministry arguments claimed carrier fighters would face only other lower-performance carrier aircraft, while scarce British fighter production had to defend the United Kingdom. In this interpretation, those claims served institutional priorities while reflecting sincere concern about the land-based air war. An operational Me 109T force would make the naval fighter requirement concrete, although Supermarine’s limited capacity and the incomplete shadow-factory programme would still constrain production.
Chapter · 31:15-33:33
Graf Zeppelin and the case for better Fleet Air Arm fighters
A real German carrier fighter threat would strengthen the Fleet Air Arm’s difficult prewar case for high-performance fighters and continued Seafire development.