Restored control of naval aircraft ordering gave the Admiralty a basis for resisting another transfer of priority to the RAF. A compromise might place naval work in Canadian shadow factories or let the Navy take its specifications to American manufacturers in 1939 rather than waiting until later in the war. One option is an up-armed, folding-wing Brewster Buffalo as an adequate early fighter, with an American-engined Barracuda as a way to preserve a strike-aircraft programme. The lost generation is grounded in surviving plans, specifications, orders, and flying test examples, so the counterfactual starts from documented projects rather than imaginary aircraft.
Chapter · 59:01-1:06:10
North American orders replace a lost generation of naval aircraft
If British factories prioritized the RAF, Henderson could seek Canadian capacity or immediate American orders for carrier fighters and strike aircraft.