Japan may have failed to use the deterrent value of its modern carrier aircraft. Publicly announcing the Zero, other advanced carrier aircraft and the Yamato-class battleships could have changed foreign risk calculations. The question is whether British and American forces would have deployed differently and whether other states would have dealt with Japan more cautiously. The possibility that their approach would have continued as it did historically remains open.
Notable Point · 1:34:02-1:34:44
Could publicity make Japan's modern air group a deterrent?
The unresolved counterfactual asks whether announcing Japanese aircraft and battleships would have changed foreign deployments or diplomacy.