One explanation for continued German prototype spending in 1918 is an institutional refusal to acknowledge how badly the war was going. The government, and especially the Imperial German Navy, resisted recognizing the blockade's effects and the failure to achieve the necessary gains on land. New aircraft development therefore continued even as the remaining time for wartime service contracted. Ambitious prototypes competed for resources under assumptions that gave too little weight to Germany's deteriorating position.
Notable Point · 46:26-47:10
Blockade denial kept late-war prototypes funded
The navy's refusal to acknowledge the blockade and battlefield decline helps explain why ambitious aircraft development continued into 1918.