If one interwar technology tree could be accelerated, which should it be?
Short answerFire control and radar: an early lead in radar-guided gunnery and warning would reshape both surface combat and air defence.
NotesEarlier working radar would improve detection, ranging, anti-aircraft fire, and ship-to-ship gunnery at once. A mature system by the mid-1930s would give its navy years to integrate the equipment into ships, fire-control procedures, and crew training before war. The panel uses Hood and Prince of Wales as examples of capital ships that could engage Bismarck more effectively with reliable radar-directed gunnery. It also stresses warning value: Glorious might have escaped if radar had detected the German ships early enough for the carrier to reach full speed before they closed to gun range.