Atlantic Warfare Today : 441 



status or the present products of the research and development pro- 

 grams in rockets, guided missiles and other related instruments that 

 might be used in war. The most ambitious plans concern the estab- 

 lishment of a permanent station in space which could be occupied by 

 human beings. Obviously such a station in space would be of incalcu- 

 lable value as a center for scientific research in time of peace and 

 oflfer a decisive advantage in time of war. It requires some imagina- 

 tion to picture and write about a man-made station in space. Much 

 more difficult to understand and to describe are the elusive but perva- 

 sive elements that have entered into the science of our time and have 

 also found a place in military and naval arms. 



One of these elusive developments is the extensive and increasing 

 use of automatic, usually electronic, devices which can be used as sub- 

 stitutes for human direction and control of machines or processes. In 

 their simplest forms these are called "servo mechanisms." A servo 

 mechanism might be used to determine when and how far a valve 

 should be opened or closed. A familiar form of servo mechanism would 

 be a thermostat that controls the operation of your furnace. 



Servo mechanisms have been extensively used in aircraft; in fact, 

 without servo mechanisms it would be almost impossible for a crew 

 to operate a modern bomber. In recent years they have grown up 

 and been transformed into very complicated devices. In one direction 

 they have led into the field of machines that perform mechanical 

 operations — the calculating machines and the so-called "mechanical 

 brains." 



The problems of the army and the navy and the air corps have 

 absorbed a large proportion of the time of these machines as fast as 

 they could be constructed. Recently machines have become available 

 but are especially devoted to business research, to control of industrial 

 processes and for many special uses. In the military and naval fields 

 also special devices have been developed not only to calculate and plot 

 but also to completely control the flight of aircraft, guided missiles, 

 etc. Joined with the use of radar, such machines are able, in the black 

 of night, to detect a target and direct against it the fire of a gun or 

 the maneuvering of a whole airplane or a vessel. 



Undoubtedly the "push-button" war that was under discussion 

 some years ago still lies somewhere in the indefinite future, but 

 machines already built are daily assisting man in naval research in 

 arriving at quick and reliable decisions in the conduct of maneuvers, 

 in the direction and control of vessels, the fire of vessels, the handling: 

 and operation of carrier-based aircraft, etc. All these things would 

 inevitably be a part of any Atlantic warfare waged today. 



