Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-03-18
The War Over the Air
By Viii Ir,Uin
Chapter N-Defense Against Aircraft
By Viii Ir,Uirl.

Complainant and conservative mill
tary authorities, discussing the dan
ger of the aeroplane to armies,
navies and centers of population,
always end up on one phrase: For
every new form of offense, we always
find a defense" To which war
correspondent of my acquaintance re-
piled: Yes, but 1T sometimes takes
400 years.
The rife is perhaps a case in point
As soon as we armed our infantry
with one-man guns, body armor,
which had served well for prot ection
against lances, pixies, swords and
arrows, went into the discard. From
that time until the twentieth century.
the best defense against rifle was
another rifle.
Against the airplane we have at
present two ground-based defenses
both used in the late war-the
balloon net and the anti-aircraft gun.
The first Of these may be dismissed
briefly. Balloons, carrying the heavy
fabric of the nets, cannot rise so
high as even rather poor aeroplane
can fly. If the aviator knows they
are there, he has but to rise above
the obstacle and drop down on the
other side. They are most effective,
as things stand at present, when run
up unexpectedly at night. But Euro
pean constructors are already at
tempting to discount this possibility
by constructing aeroplanes which will
shear through nets. At best, nets
will only keep them high"
Ground Gun Force Ignored.
The Air Service, remembering the
late war, regards cynically the anti
aircraft gun. A veteran OF that
struggle can not picture an airplane
working over the lines without it's
decoration of white or black shell
bursts, which never seemed in the
least to disturb 1t. Not one wrecked
aircraft in a hundred was even par
TALLY brought down by "archies"; aft
er the first two or three perturbing
flights the aviator went his way in
different to them-there were so many
more dangerous things to worry
about Anti-aircraft guns and gunfire
haye much improved since 1918. They
are shooting 5-inch shells now in
stead of S-inch, with corresponding
increase in range: they have multi
piled their rapidity of fire. But so
have the speed and agility of air
planes increased.
At the end OF February an en-
thusiastic officer of the "archIes" said
to me: I'VE pepper a target at 10000
feet" I was skeptical even then:
merely peppering target does not
convince one who saw the late war.
l remembered how the machines re-
turned constantly from patrol with
their wings full of holes and their
fuselages SCARED, but still in fight
ing condition.
On March 6 the arches had a chance
to show the congressional committee
what they could do against a night
attack. Virtually they did nothing.
Their searChlights did not even find
most of the attacking machines. Only
one target was touched-and that by
machine gun bullet. The anti-air-
craft forces were not using guns of
the largest caliber. But on the other
hand, the targets could not shift and
dip as do airplanes lodging anti
aircraft fire. The game remains
what it was in the beginning
Shooting flying ducks at long range
with a rife"
Design Gliding Bomb.
Again, two devices invented or i'm
proved since the war give the bomb
ing plane, in operations against cities.
If not against armies, new edge
on anti-aircraft fire. One is the glid-
ing bomb. AS its name implies, it
does not fall straight. 1t is winged,
so that 1t cuts an oblique course.
Probably this device is somewhat in
accurate; but in such an operation as
gassing city the aviator could
afford to shoot at his objective "all