Unproven weapons depend on the enemy behaving as expected

A comment about uncertain technologies leads to the Royal Navy's early Second World War rocket-propelled anti-aircraft munitions. The system was justified against level-flying bombers and might have performed adequately in that narrow engagement. Actual attackers did not cooperate with the assumed flight profile, so the weapon's operating concept collapsed even though the underlying technology could function. It was quickly abandoned while successful wartime weapons received far more attention afterward. The example shows that combat effectiveness depends on enemy behavior and doctrine as much as laboratory promise.