Competition between services created pressure to keep developing aviation doctrine. Rivalry between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, and between the US Army Air Corps and Navy, kept aviation roles contested and visible. In Britain, Royal Air Force control of the Fleet Air Arm forced the Royal Navy to explain why carrier aviation had to remain integrated with the fleet. An Air Ministry proposal to use carriers to ferry RAF aircraft east before returning for naval aircraft strengthened the Navy's case that the ministry misunderstood carrier warfare. Thomas Inskip's rejection of that plan shows how outside pressure could make a service define and improve a capability before it stagnated.
Notable Point · 8:24-12:25
How interservice competition sustained naval aviation
Competition between services forced Japanese, American, and British institutions to argue about naval aviation, refine doctrine, and preserve organizational momentum that France lacked.