Shipboard radar was moving toward deployment around 1936, so a war beginning in 1942 would have met a different Royal Navy from the one available in 1939. A state nevertheless goes to war with the forces it actually possesses at the time. Nominal strength must first be reduced to the equipment and units that are serviceable. A particular battle can use only the portion of that force physically present and capable of joining the action. Sweden's high command failed to distinguish what it listed on paper from what it could actually employ.
Notable Point · 2:52:06-2:53:58
War is fought with serviceable forces, not paper strength
Early shipboard radar and Sweden's nominal troop strength illustrate the same rule: future programs and paper establishments do not substitute for usable forces in theatre.