Japanese fighter design could appear sensible when judged against the exercises and limited combat experience that shaped it. The criticism is that those experiences produced false positives and encouraged development along an unsuitable path. A British parallel is the 4.7-inch destroyer gun treated as dual purpose despite lacking high-angle fire. Both examples concern the danger of accepting apparently favourable experience as proof that equipment meets its intended role. Some later fighter-design principles resemble the priorities that guided Japanese fighter development.
Notable Point · 1:37:09-1:38:24
When exercises validate the wrong design choices
Japanese fighter development and Britain's 4.7-inch destroyer gun illustrate how exercises and limited combat experience can validate unsuitable choices.