New Britain herald., 1929-04-05
WAR PLANE FACTOR
 0F GREAT IMPORT
Army Men Study Both Flying and Shooting Down Aircraft


 While the army air corps is devel- oping methods of keeping fighting airplanes in the air. other branches of the army arc devoting their training and skill to the best meth ods of bringing them down.
 The airplane, without question. is regarded as the greatest individual threat in future wars.
 Like the navy experts who devel- oped the armored battleship and then followed it up with the armor piercing gun; like the army which produced the tank and then the anti-tank rife: like th% chemists who brought out the deadly war gases and the gas mask, the army's chief thought today is to develop effective means of stopping the fighting airplanes. which 1t helped to conceive.
 Tho construction Of guns to light off air attacks is doubtless the out standing army progress since the World War.
 Flyers point with pride to their fast climbing planes and their heavy bombing planes, squadron of which can drop more than 10 tons of high explosive in less than minute With equal pride the army artillery men point to their new anti-aircraft guns and say. Let them climb as high as they want to. we'll bring them down. Let them fly over us with their bombs-it's just what we want and it will bring them in easy range. They can't fly high enough to escape"
 Ground "Strafng''
 The air service points to it's at tack planes with each plane equip ped with six machine guns for use in ground "strafing." The infantry men. against whom such typo of planes would be used. pat their new type, 50-caliber machine guns and say, Let them try it.''
 Each of the new anti-aircraft ma chine guns can pour forth 400 shots a minute-ncarly seven bull lets each tick of a watch. In fact, the gun shoots so fast it's explo- sions sound like the roar of a pow erful engine. And its bullets are nearly twice the size of those used in the ordinary service rine.
 The artillery is confident in the ability and power of the new three- inch gun. designed especially for use against raiding airplanes. This gun uses only high explosive shells and battery of four can fre from S5 to 100 shots a minute. It also can shoot more than three miles straight up in the air.
 With a few batteries of these guns in action, no raiding airplane squadron tat ever flew could es- cape" an artillery officer declared.
 Shrapnel Abandoned
 Use of shrapnel against afr planes has been abandoned by the United States army since the World War. In It's place comes newer and more effective high ex- plosive shell. streamlined and de- signed to shatter into a million piercing fragments.
 While the army has been devot- ing it's chief attention to the de- velopment of weapons against air attack. it has not neglected its land ornaments.
 Since the last war, the bureau of ordnance has improved the old IS | gun. which vas used so effectively | by the allies against the central powers.
 The old 75s had range of s,c0O yards. With new projectiIe. de- signed by the army. this range has been increased to 1000 yards. l However, ordnance experts were not satisfied. They devised an en- tirely new 75 which can hurl a shell nearly nine miles.
 There IS no automatic feature in the new 75 but the gun can shoot 20 shells a minute and faster.
 A new six-inch gun has been de- in the last five years. which fective for long range Lombard ment. It can throw a projectile weighing several hundred pounds more than 1 miles and with near ly the same accuracy as a rife.
 Speed the Watchword
 Shell builders have taken q cue from automobile designers and are proiectiles to lower wind resistance and eliminate va cuum.