Evening star., 1940-03-28
Maj. Eliot Opposes
Letting Allies Have
Secret Bomb Sight
Feors Germans May Get
One and Pass Ii on
To Russio Or Jopon
By MAJ. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.

By MAJ. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.
The development Of the adminis-
tration's plans for the sale Of air.
planes to the allied powers raises
several interesting points Of discus
sion-and one question Of crucial
Importance. To begin with, It may
be said that the design Of military
airplanes and airplane engines ID
progressing 50 rapidly that today's
miracle is obsolete tomorrow. Par
ticularly is this true when the test
ing ground Is actual experience in
war. It is, therefore, . decided ad-
vantage from our point Of view that
the latest models Of American planes
should be tested under active service
conditions, and improved models
developed as a result.
1t Is, of course, to be supposed,
or at least to be hoped, that as a
part of any arrangements for sup
plying these planes to the allies, our
Government is stipulating for re-
liable information as to their per-
formance. Since design is advanc-
ing so rapidly, especially under the
pressure of war conditions, there is
little reason to suppose that we shall
in this way part with anything that
could be described as a valuable
military secret. However, the news
reports regarding our negotiations
with the allies contain one disquiet-
ing suggestion.
It 50 happens that one Of our
newer pursuit models has q super
charger Of confidential design which
adds very greatly to its efficiency.
It Is stated that the allies are anx-
ious to obtain not only the plane,
but the supercharger, and that some
War Department officials see no OBJ
lection to their doing so. It is quite
likely that no proper objection ex-
lists. There are very few elements
OF design in this field which can be
properly classified as true military
secrets.
U. S. Has Military Secret.
What is disquieting about this
suggestion is that the United States
does possess a military secret which
should, under no circumstances
whatever, be made available to any
foreign power; and that is our in
comparable bomb-sight.
If the allies are pressing for i'm
proved designs of airplanes, and
even for such appurtenances as su-
per-chargers, it may confidently be
assumed that they have not over
looked our bomb-slght, well known to
be by far the best in the world. This
Is just ordinary common sense rea-
soning, and no amount Of official de-
NAL should overcome the overwhelm-
Ing probabilities of the matter.
This bomb-sight is one of the few
real military secrets of the world.
Its possession is of great advantage
to the United States, because it Is
probable that in any war in which
We may be engaged our lombard
ment aviation will be largely con-
cerned with precision bombing
against such targets as ships, small
island bases and the like. Carrying
this reasoning little further, any
potential enemy of the United
States must have to reckon, as q
part of the risk he would undergo
in any hostile enterprise against
us, the certainty of an accurate and
deadly bombing attack as to any ele-
ments Of his forces which might come
within reach of our aviation-an at
tack which he could not, lacking
our facilities for accurate bombing,
return in kind or at least with the
same proportionate effect.
Have Crucial Targets.
The other side of the picture is
that We have certain crucial targets
Of our own which we do not desire
to make the objectives of accurate
high-altitude bombing by any pos
sible enemy. Notable among these
targets are the locks and spillway
dam of the Panama Canal.
As pointed out in a previous art-
Gle of this series, it is unlikely that
the Panama Canal can be attacked
by a large enemy air force. There
fore, anything which would in
crease the accuracy with which the
comparatively few bombs of a small
raiding force could be dropped is q
decided disadvantage to us from
the point of view of the canals Sc
curity. We should prefer such bomb
ing to be of the quality so far dis
played by both the British and the
Germans in their North Sea opera
tions, rather than of the quality
which our own air force Is known
to have attained. The Panama Canal
is, when all is said and done, the
keystone of our national strategy,
and its security is of primary i'm