IJN first-strike doctrine and late-war aircraft successors

Was the IJN doctrine of hitting enemy carriers first fatally flawed, and how much would Sam and Grace aircraft change the contest?

The panel says the first-strike idea resembled US doctrine; newer Japanese aircraft would be improvements, but would meet contemporary US equivalents and would not by themselves remove the wider operational imbalance.

The discussion rejects the idea that seeking the first carrier blow was uniquely or inherently fatal, noting its similarity to American practice. It then treats the A7M Sam and B7A Grace as qualitative improvements rather than war-winning leaps, because the US Navy would field its own contemporary aircraft. The watch point is useful for avoiding a technology-only explanation of carrier warfare.