However, Jerome Bonaparte reconsidered.
The achievements of the French Empire in ironclad warships seemed unlikely to maintain its advantage for long.
Ironclad warships, unlike nuclear weapons, are not something that can maintain a year's advantage just because you built them a year earlier than your opponent.
Jerome Bonaparte had reason to believe that the Kingdom of Britain could produce ironclads with better performance than the "Friendship" within one to two years.
After all, the Kingdom of Britain's shipbuilding industry far surpasses that of France, a fact that all naval forces, including Minister Deco, have to admit.
Rather than maintain an advantage for one or two years, it would be better to collaborate with the Kingdom of Britain on developing ironclads and absorb some of Britain's shipbuilding techniques in the process.
Since France is providing the advanced technology of ironclads, Britain should at least offer some equivalent technology.
