Evening star., 1937-10-31

and intricate arguments arose between
the rival advocates Of cannon firing
explosive shells at 400 rounds minute
with so rounds in the magazine, and
those favoring closer-range shooting,
who argued that a bank Of four or
eight machine guns, firing 1900 shots
minute, can outshoot cannon
weaponed machine any day. This
group of experts and manufacturers
swore by the wing cannon, mounted
in the wing framework; that group
swore by the motor cannon, mounted
in or on the engine.
Have No Special Weapon.
The British, dreaming their 'collec-
tive-security dream. with the air force
starved of money and armament
manufacturers starved of orders, fell
behind in this field; and today they
have no special weapon of their own.
But their luck held. The whole effec-
| tiveneSs Of weapons in warplanes of
today and tomorrow depends less on
their range and the destructiveness of
their fire, even less on whether their
guns fire shells or spray lead, than on
| the method Of their mounting and
| handling. This Is the problem high
speeds have set for engineers; and
Britain has always had good engineers.
Just at the time the air ministry
as
craft makers or armament manufac-
turers had a mounting to meet their
needs, something turned up. 1t was
the Parnall hydraulic turret. The
story back of this turret cannot yet be
told in full. In brief, couple OF
engineers, Frazer and Nash. worked
for years on the thing, and by chance
were on the spot with it when all the
airplane manufacturers and arma-
ment concerns had nothing to offer
except pioneer devices which failed to
come up to air-ministry specifications
Gen. Goering once had the chance
| to get hold of this turret. How
Goering missed his chance Is another
story.
The patents in the only device to
meet the ministry's specifications are
now vested in the air minister, Lord
Swinton-which means that they are
automatically on the secret list, and
the Parnall Aircraft Co., manufactur-
ing them in guarded plant near the
Bristol Channel, is forbidden to sell
abroad. The gun turrets were the only
part of Britain's air armada that
Marshal Won Blomberg was politely
held from inspecting when he stayed
on after the coronation and the air
feet men took him down to one OF
their military airdromes to give hin,
an eyeful of Britain's new feet.
| Discarding Fixed Gun.
The British, In short, are discarding
the fixed gun in favor of the free gun
which fires from almost any angle and
Is power-operated. They think they
have q Jump on Europe's best air
forces now. "Give US another two
years, and we'll skin 'em," is the
general view in the air feet.
| There has been long and acrimoni-
GUS controversy, which earlier this
year nearly precipitated q cabinet
| crisis, over Whether the admiralty
should control its own air arm or have
at its disposal only seaplanes and land
planes of special section of the whole
air fleet under supreme Royal Air
Force control. The air force men and
their supporters in the war staff brain
! trust" insisted that the air fleet is the
arm Of the future, and as it is only q
matter Of time before 1t renders sea
fleets obsolete, it should be kept intact
as a whole force.
The navy men rejected this thesis
Their brain trusters argued that sea
warriors have to learn to use their
surface and air gun platforms and
torpedo carriers as a general uses his
cavalry, tanks, infantry and artillery.
The navy in August won the first
round. They at last got control oi
their own air arm. BY 1910 they will
have 1000 first-line machines. Eight
airplane carriers, each holding so tc
10 machines, will enable 400 to soc
advanced type airplanes to be concen-
trated at any strategic point on the
objective 200 to 300 miles away. and
the machines will be on the target in
so to 80 minutes after launching.
One thing pleases the British. The
wars since the Great War appear tc
indicate that the defense has caught
up with the offense, and may have
passed 1t. Bombers have disclosed 9
lot of vulnerable points. Up to date
and skillfully handled fighters have
again and again driven OF raiders
City preparedness has proved its
worth.
Defense Is Perfected.
John Bulls airport layout is de-
signed to put squadron after squadron
of fast, high-flying interceptors into
the sky, forcing the attacker fleet to
run the gauntlet. Far from the British
coasts q running air battle would
begin, with the object of stopping the
attack halfway, or disorganizing it.
and leaving only a scattered remnant
of shaken men to reach the objective
and lay their eggs from a great height
under blast of fire from anti-aircraft
batteries. The defense strategy is
based on this layout, plus the capacity
OF tomorrow's defenders to be miles
up in 10 minutes, ready to dive onto
the air fleets Of potential enemies.
With resolute and well-planned air
and ground defense, air raids by
bombers may not be as dreadful as
most people surmise. Men are learning
that they are devastating only when
they come as . complete surprise and
hit an open town without defenses.
When Q city = ready. and defended.