A visible technology lead may delay the European war

New propulsion might shift the opening of the Second World War by roughly a year to eighteen months, though it would not prevent the conflict. Visible British jets would strain Italian industry and make German assurances of Luftwaffe superiority harder to sustain. Attempts to match gas-turbine ships would also compete for foreign currency, strategic materials, engineers, and factory capacity. A delay into late 1940 or early 1941 could bring more King George V-class battleships, Illustrious-class carriers, and second-generation aircraft into service before combat begins.