Why Aquila was not built as a strike carrier

Would Aquila have entered service earlier if Italy had responded sooner to British carrier operations?

Probably not: Italian priorities did not make a strike carrier urgent, even while British carriers operated in the Mediterranean.

Italian planning differed from the Royal Navy's need to defend task groups from land-based aircraft. Aquila was not begun earlier because internal priorities did not treat a carrier as essential, and its intended role was more limited than that of a strike carrier. Italian planners emphasized reconnaissance and some air defence rather than a carrier designed to attack another carrier force. Graf Zeppelin's strike orientation and Royal Navy combat-air-patrol practice should therefore not be projected onto Aquila.