Development in tech is often leapfrog. The Germans had the Horton 226? And a whole load of new ideas they couldn’t bring to bear and weren’t complete. Given another year and resources WW2 would have been a very different ending.
America had the Mustang and a whole load of aircraft that would not have been if not for UK design. They caught up with the help of friends. Friends who are not really doing more than jog along.
Korea was a case in point of USA shutting up the shop and going home to find another war erupting. USA had brilliant pilots against superior soviet aircraft manned by substandard pilots. It was the man who made Korea. Especially as they were planning to disband the marines.
War is fast and now down to moments. China...
A nation's choice between spending on military defense and spending on civilian goods has often been posed as "guns versus butter." But understanding the choices of many nations' political leaders might be helped by examining the contrast between their runaway spending on pensions while skimping on military defense.
Huge pensions for retired government workers can be found from small municipalities to national governments on both sides of the Atlantic. There is a reason. For elected officials, pensions are virtually the ideal thing to spend money on, politically speaking. Many kinds of spending of the taxpayers' money win votes from the recipients. But...
Pilot training and rotation meant our guys would get better, while theirs burnt out or got shot down.
But the Horton Bros. never did find a solution for the pitch instability problem, any more than did Jack Northrup, despite claims to the contrary. Modern FBW systems made the "span loader" design practical.