The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-11-25
Gun to Hit Airships.

That the worlds powers are fully
alive to the important part which
aeroplanes and dirigibles will play in
the warfare of the future is illustrated
by the efforts which are being made to
invent 9 gun which could be used
against aerial enemies. 1t is no exag-
geration TO say there is a fortune
awaiting the expert who can produce
a weapon capable of destroying an
aeroplane, no matter how quickly or
at what height it is travelling.
According to the Field" both Ger
many and France have been partly
successful in inventing guns which are
proving effective weapons against aero
planes. Krupp has turned out a gun
with small bore that takes a light
projectile which, it is said, can be fired
quickly enough to plant a bullet in all
acroplane, even if it is flying at the
rate of 100 miles an hour. The barrel
is comparatively long so that a high
initial velocity and low trajectory arc
obtained. Telescope sights and range
finder are provided, the latter fitted
with all arrangement which gives the
necessary elevation, as the distance is
read off During the French maneuv-
ers special gun was used, in addition
TO a mitrailleuse, so modified that it
could be elevated at a high angle and
fired from an automobile. Further. q
combined shrapnel and ordinary shell
has been introduced for use against
aircraft
So far. however. the effects OF artil-
lery FIRE against balloons have been
disappointing. Captive balloons. which
wait patiently until they are hit, have
been brought down; but. if hit, they
are not necessarily placed hors-de
combat During the Boer war only
one case occurred OF balloon being
hit. A shrapnel shell. fired at a range
of about 600 yards. burst in front of
it and made sixty-eight holes; but the
balloon took twenty minutes to come
down and was subsequently repaired.
In the opinion of the lay1nan, the
chief function of the aeroplane in flight
would seem to be the dropping of ex-
plosives on the enemy below. Naval
and military men, however, think diff
ferently; but, until further develop
ments take place, aerial machines are
not likely to be in a position to infict
any serious damage To escape the
enemy's FIRE, the aeroplane must neces-
sariIy fly at height at which accuracy
of aim is impossible.
The spectacular performances at
Henley, where oranges were dropped
from low elevations we'll within artil-
lery range, need not be seriously con-
sidered An explosive should be able
to work considerable destruction in the
immediate vicinity of the spot on
which it fell, penetrating the decks of
ships and damaging gun-turre and
coming towers, while arsenals, dock
yards, fortresses of all kinds, and espe-
cially powder magazines, are targets
that would at once attract the enemy.
On the other hand, there is the fact
that at present the light explosives,
which aerial machines would be able
to drop, would have very little pene-
trating or destructive power; the ma
chimes would have to descend within
rife range, if they were to be of any
practical use; while the difficulties in
the way of hitting anything from
moving platform in the air, at an un-
known distance from the target, may
be imagined.