Interwar air power was divided by funding and service rivalry

The interwar Royal Air Force's limited money was divided unevenly between missions. John Bull describes Dowding spending political capital to establish Fighter Command and Chain Home, including an anecdote about assurances over local grouse shooting. The Fleet Air Arm and Fighter Command could share an interest in single-engine aircraft. Coastal Command needed multi-engine aircraft for long-range search, putting it in competition with Bomber Command. The Navy was already fighting for carrier aviation and lacked the influence to secure every requirement of a command belonging to another service. That left maritime aviation affected by disputes within the RAF as well as by rivalry between services.