Evening star., 1936-11-08
FRANCE PREPARES
FOR AIR ATTACK
System Of Cables Hung
From Balloons Envisioned
in Defense.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
PARIS, November IA system Of
nets strung through the air for trap
ping invading airplanes is one Of the
measures envisaged for the defense
of France against air attacks In the
event Of war.
The network would consist Of some
80 cables strung q few yards apart
and held aloft by captive balloons,
The cables would be strung one un-
der the other, forming . sort Of wall
in the air.
The space in which an airplane
may fly being as high and wide A.
1t is, anti-aircraft technicians admit
that the odds are all in favor Of the
invading planes not running into the
nets.
But they would give enemy avia
tors one more worry. they say, and
perhaps cause them to ny at higher
attitudes, where bombing aim would
be less effective.
The net plan Is proposed for the
defense Of industrial communities
near the frontier rather than. for
Paris. Series of cable-strung captive
balloons would be placed Immediately
outside the communities. r..
Paris Defense Established.
Elaborate plans for both active and
passive defense OF Paris against air
raids have been established.
Once . fleet Of enemy bombers
reaches Paris the defense must be
chiefly passive. the technicians say.
This will follow the lines Of the
recent drill held in the capital-ex-
tinguishing lights and fires. getting
the population into cellars and bomb
proof shelters. coping with connagra-
tions, aiding the injured and the use
of gas masks and other protective
apparatus.
The active defense must be carried
on before the planes reach Paris.
To this end, four zones Of air de-
fense have been set up between Paris
and the German frontier. The first
is Just behind the frontier: the fourth,
in which there is the heaviest con-
centration Of anti-aircraft guns. forms
q ring around Paris about 80 miles
beyond the city limits.
Planes Patrol Zone.
Scout planes at present patrol the
first zone. In time Of war they would
be constantly on guard. Earth units
in the zone are equipped with sound
devices which enable them to hear
planes IL miles distant and detect
their position and direction. And they
are in radio contact with the scout
planes.
As q fleet approached. warning
would be given to all zones, to Paris
and to communities in the line Of
night. That part Of the fleet which
escaped the anti-aircraft guns and
combat planes of the first zone would
find others waiting to receive them
in the second and third zones.
And any getting through those
zones would have to face the veritable
air barrage of the fourth zone.
The vast anti-aircraft system Is
Frances answer to increased German
air power-a maginot line Of the air.
Air defense technicians say progress
in anti-aircraft devices since the last
war has been as great As progress in
aviation.
Radio apparatus and light ray de-
vices for detecting planes and measure
ing their altitude and speed, search
lights which make airplanes visible
from earth but which are invisible
to the occupants of the planes. guns
which can be fired vertically-these
and many other contraptions, all CO.
ordinated, are ready for the next
war, which. If it comes, many believe
will be q war OF the air.