Air supremacy achieved by fighter aircraft was the prerequisite for a successful bombing offensive. In the coming European war, it would take American Air Force leaders more than a year and near paralyzing loss rates to absorb this lesson. But the Bomber Mafia did work mightily in the late 1930s to encourage the development of something overlooked by both Mitchell and Douhet—a military-industrial complex committed to the production of staggering numbers of warplanes.
