Two different interwar debates about air power

One interwar argument claimed that aircraft could replace every battleship. A narrower debate concerned how aviation could improve a balanced fleet. Air-power advocates often treated expected future performance as if it were already available. Tests against stationary, uncrewed targets with opened internal compartments did not settle whether aircraft could sink a manned battleship manoeuvring and conducting damage control at sea. The louder replacement argument consequently crowded discussion of what aircraft could reliably do and what development might add next.