Semi-weekly herald., 1913-07-17
AERIAL WARFARE.
(By Robert Heinselman..

NDy RODeTI 1etIlSeln1Hn..
Authorities differ as to the num-
Der of aeroplanes and other aircraft
nov owned ny the various govern
ments. it IS stated that France has
171 alroplares, Russia 15O, Great Brit
ain So. Germany so, United States 16,
and that of dirigiblc balloons Ger
many has SO, France ID, Russia 0,
and the United States J.; also that by
1915 France will have in the military
service 90r aeroplanes and l 500 train
ed pilots.
The number of aircraft row owned
by any government is, however, COM
paratively unimportant, because the
day of aerial navies" has only dawn
ed, and the number of aircraft avail
able today is insignificant compared
with the Elects" which will, no doubt,
sail the skies within the next few
years. But II war were declared to-
day II is evident that Germany, with
her enormous Zeppelins, would hold
the supremacy Of the air, and that the
United States would fall behind the
other great powers in equipment for
aerial warfare.
But while Germany, with her great
aerial battleships, appears to be in
the lead, France stands we'll in the
forefront Of military aviation. Her
activity Is evidenced by the steady
increase in the Franch aeronautical
budget for the last four years. which
Is as follows: 1910, $4,000; 1911
100000; 1912, $1,O24, 900; 1913, ST.
$4,000. In September, 1912, occur
red in France the first review of an
aeroplane armada, seventy-two army
aeroplanes, with their full compile
ments of pilots and motor trucks bear
ing supplies, passing in review before
the French minister Of war.
Imagine a naval war ship 500 feet
long, carrying crew of eighteen men,
with room for storage of $500 pounds
Of explosives, and capable of an av-
erage speed of forty-five miles an
hour, and Of remaining in the air
from twenty -four to thirty hours, and
you have an idea of one of the ships
with which Germany is recruiting her
aerial navy" Twenty Of these, it is
said, with necessary "halls" for pres
ervation when not in use, can be
built for about the cost of one Of the
latest first-class battleships.
Consider that an aviator has made
the trip from Paris to London in 1856
minutes Of actual flying, that an aeri-
al vessel Of war, except on a night Of
brilliant moonlight, would be invisi-
BILE at height Of 5000 feet, while
the lights Of great city could be
easily discerned, and it does not now
require the imagination of a Tenny-
son to fancy the havoc that, in the
event of wars, fleet of such Zeppe-
liIs might work by sailing up the
Thames and dropping few tons Of
dynamite occasionally on dark nights
en- the streets of city like London.
Turning from the calamities that
such enormous air ships might in
flict, unless methods of determination
ar invented, consider now the military
uses Of the smaller air craft, which
all the great powers will soon own
by the hundred. Their purpose ap-
pears twofold,-first, for scouting;
second, for attack by dropping or dis
charging explosives. As to the for
n'er. the usefulness apparent from the
nature Of the invention, confirmed by
experiments, assures their value; as
to the latter, owing to the meager
tests. their efficiency is more doubt
ful.
OF course, the future of aerial war
fare is yet only conjecture. 1t is pos
sible that the usefulness Of aircraft
for attack will be inappreciable, and
that, with the development of air craft
destroyers, the results obtainable by
them for scouting purposes will be
disappointing. On the other hand, it
may be that the aerial navies" of
the future will dominate military
methods more than any influence since
that greatest martial achievement Of
the centuries. the invention Of gun
powder.
Probably the principal use Of air
craft will be military. For its use in
war tho armies and navies OF the
world must adjust themselves--it may
he by changes the most radical, OF
by those only slight. Certainly, In
dicaticns point to new era in mill
tary annals In which aerial warfare
will play m important part.