Evening star., 1940-09-26
British Must Develop
Night Fighter Plane
To Halt Air Siege
Anti-Aircroft Guns Are
Useless os Defense,
Observer Declares
BY DREW MIDDLETON.
Associatad Press War Correspondent

LONDON, Sept. 2e.-Unless Brit
ish ingenuity can provide the r. A.
F. with fighter planes meeting the
stringent requirements Of night
fighting London Is doomed to
winter-long assaults from German
bombers. who for 10 nights now have
been able to penetrate the severest
anti-aircraft barrage in history to
bomb the city.
A night fighter is not something
that can be thought Of complacently
as arriving next January or next
spring; 1t must be put into action
at once II the worlds biggest city
is to be released from the nightly
thrall Of death and destruction.
Such 4 plane must be armed
heavily enough to bring down big
German bombers, like the Dorniers
and the four -motored Junkers COS.
1t will need fuel capacity to stay
aloft for the duration Of at least
one series Of attacks such as the
Germans have been launching
nightly. 1t must not reveal its
whereabouts to the raiders through
exhausts, glowing cherry red, or the
CLINT Of wind screens.
Best Brains Of Nation At Work.
Right now, in laboratories and
workshops scattered throughout the
country. the finest scientific and
mechanical brains Of the nation are
working on the biggest problem Of
the hour-how to defeat the night
bomber.
Technical experts already have
turned out at least three new defense
weapons against Reichsmarshal
Goering's bombers, but the expert.
ments 60 on because a really success
full counter-weapon to the night
raider Of the skies has not been
found.
The three new weapons are secrets
Of the military authorities. but they
are supposed to be a type OF sky
trap for planes. shell that breaks
into q spiderweb Of steel cables to
ensnare propellers and self-pro-
pelling shell that explodes with ter
rife force and is lethal over wide
area.
Whether any of these develop
ments. or any sort of missile, con-
tains the answer to the night raider
remains to be seen, but many air
experts believe the skies can be
cleared of enemy bombers only by
fighter planes.
The r. A. F. has new types Of
fighters coming into commission and
is experimenting constantly with
others, but it is admitted on all sides
that neither the British nor the
Germans have developed a successful
night fighter so far.
The difficulty of fast fighters op-
Grating against bombers at night lies
in inability Of the pursuit plane tc
intercept its bigger, heavier and
slower target All planes. whether
fighter or bomber, disclose theil
presence by the glow of exhaust
pipe and gases, but the flames are
visible only a short distance
In other words, unless a bomber
is silhouetted against a bright sky
or caught in a searchlight beam
the fighter pilot practically Is blind
and his Job Is tougher than trying
to fnd the proverbial needle in q
haystack.
Military Targets Hit.
Since the British now forbid any
mention OF specific damage in Lon.
don, the outside world-except pos
sibly the operations room Of the Nazl
Luftwaf1e-will not know what dam
age the bombers are doing until
after the war.
1t Is useless to say they are not
doing any or that it is wholly ter
ror" bombing. There have been
plenty of military targets hit. The
reason for this damage. far beyond
anything in the history Of aerial
warfare. is a one-sided defense.
The chief defense of London Is
the anti-aircraft barrage. You have
only to read the words of British
pilots flying over Berlin to know
what contempt bomber crews have
| for anti-aircraft.
I have been watching the bombing
day and night since May. I have
have seen just one plane knocked
down by anti-aircraft fire, and that
was a German bomber over Bou-
logne. The only reason they got
him was because he flew too low. at
5000 feet, over q battery that had
been silent.
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