Evening star., 1941-04-20
By NELSON NJ. SHEPARD.

The helpleSSneSS of London's air
defenses last Wednesday against
the most devastating German blitz-
krieg of the war drew frank eX-
preSsions of disappointment" from
War Department officials yesterday
and reluctant admission that anti
aircraft fire is definitely not very
effective at this stage of develop
ment against planes attacking un-
der cover of darkness at high alti-
tudeS.
Despite the raising of this ques-
ton mark, which looms even larger
in the civilian mind, officials charged
with overcoming the wholly made
1uate anti-aircraft defense of Amer
lea are far from discouraged by the
comparative ease with which Lon
don and Berlin, too, are subjected
to damaging night raids.
Instead of being downhearted,
these same officials expressed them
selves as extremely hopeful" that
in the next year and half vital
defense areas can be made practi-
cally invulnerable against success
full night aerial raids. In other
words, they believe it is within the
range of possibilities for anti
aircraft guns to have the same
deterrent effect in warding off
night raiders that they now have
in making mass daylight attacks
against strongly fortified cities al
/ most non-eXistent.
Racing Against Time.
! Americas war industry is racing
against time to overcome this coun-
try's shortage of modern anti
aircraft weapons. 1t is no military
secret that this shortage exists in
| both the Army and the Navy, nor
is the fact that the need for over
coming it is more urgent in the case
OF the Navy, which is the Nations
| first line OF defense.
The fact that the development of
anti-aircraft guns is in state of
f1ux may prove a handicap in
equipping our naval ships and Army
anti-aircraft regiments with the
most modern weapons. Much like
warplanes what may be the most
effective date today may become
outmoded tomorrow.
The Army has only "a mobile
anti aircraft regiments in the con-
tinental United States and few, if
any, of these regiments are up to
full strength in gun equipment. In
addition, six semi-mobile regiments,
wit htwice the firing power, are in
process of organization.
Enough orders for guns are I'M
der contract to equip twice as many
regiments as now exist, officials
claim, and it is the expectation that
the strength of the anti-aircraft
forces under the Coast Artillery
Corps will be increased to approx
mately 60 regiments by next June 30.
But the new units will be largely
skeleton formations with no guns, |
perhaps, except few for training
purposes.
Priority for Overseas Posts.
First consideration of the Army
is to strengthen the Notifications
of vital overseas posts and the newly
acquired Atlantic air bases which, |
naturally, will be bristling in time
with anti-aircraft weapons. On such
matters concerning additions to de-
fenses outside the continental
United States, the Army and Navy
have imposed a rigid censorship for
very plausible reasons.
People ask, How long will it take
to manufacture and supply all the
anti-aircraft guns required to fur
nish the Navy and the Army with
the most modern types of guns?"
The best answer one can get from
official sources is, about year and
half. Fine precision guns, like
airplaneS and tanks, cannot be made
by mere w'shful thinking. 1t is a
matter of mass production and time
is needed to reach a peak.
There are other complications,
too, that enter into the question.
Should the Navy be compelled to
convoy ships in danger zones at
any time in the future-a possibility
that is far from remote-there
would be an even more urgent need
of quickly supplying adequate COM
plements of rapid-fire guns. Also
there may come up the problem
of similarly arming merchant
ships, not only against submarines
but against rowing aircraft, too.
Another factor that has to be
taken into consideration are the
needs of Great Britain under the
lease-lend program. The public
doesn't know how many anti-air-
craft guns are being supplied to
Britain now, and not even military
experts can tell how many more
she might need three months hence.
All such equipment, while indi-
rectly aiding our own defense,
lengthens the time in which Amer
ican forces can be adequately sup
piled until mass production solves
the question
The Arnly's standard anti-air-
craft guns are new and more
powerful Comm. gun which has
orlv recentlv entered production