The underlying aim was to let the pilot fly while another system handled the engagement. Modern aircraft use computers and missiles for a related division of labor, while retaining guns for very close combat. The 1930s designers were working with the best technology then available, so their attempt was neither careless nor inherently foolish. Their equipment could not deliver the desired capability in a single-engine fighter. The operational aim made sense, but its technological window had not arrived.
Notable Point · 4:04-5:08
Good concept, wrong technology window
The idea anticipated later guided-weapon logic, but 1930s technology could not make it work in a single-engine fighter.