The closing design problem concerns alternative French research choices. If France had funded continuous research as rapid-firing guns reduced the surface torpedo boat's advantage, rockets or rocket-assisted torpedoes might have extended attack range. A different path could have combined submarines and carrier-based torpedo bombers, keeping the delivery platform outside the defender's gun envelope. Because the prompt is left to the audience, these remain possible technological branches rather than conclusions about what France would certainly have built.
Notable Point · 43:25-45:23
Possible successors to the surface torpedo boat
An unanswered counterfactual asks whether sustained French research might have shifted the offset toward rockets, aerial torpedo delivery, submarines, or carriers.