LEADING ARTICLES. 



495 



AERIAL ATTACK AND DEFENCE. 



In the United Service Magazine 

 Major H. Bannerman-Phillips reviews 

 the recent developments in the building 

 of the rival air-fleets, and makes the fol- 

 lowing invidious comparison : — 



' \\ hatever criticisms of methods we 

 may make, the fact remains that the 

 German Government believes in the 

 rigid type of lighter-than-air craft, de- 

 spite the difficulty of handling, and is 

 prepared to spend millions on their de- 

 velopment. Formerly the Zeppelin type 

 owed its continued existence mainly to 

 popular sentiment and enthusiasm, 

 converted into terms of support in hard 

 cash by subscription ; now the authori- 

 ties have become fully aooreciative of 

 the merits of the system and financial 

 support is assured on a firmer basis, all 

 the more so since they have become con- 

 vinced that while other svstems may be 

 suitable for overhead works, the rigid 

 one stands alone in regard to aerial 

 voyages oversea." 



Great Britain's defence is admittedly 

 jeopardised at the moment, and, the 

 Major says, once more: — 



" The Germans consider that the 

 fate of the rigid airship lies in their 

 own hands, and they intend to control 

 it by putting them deeper into their 

 pockets, It is for us to follow their 

 example — and better it. If our Navy 

 is to do its work and the country is to 

 be protected from panic in war-time— 

 quite as serious a contingency as the 

 actual exposure to the risk of aerial 

 bombardment and overhead reconnais- 

 sance of our fleets, fortresses, arsenals 

 and dockyards — our command of the 

 air must be secured by superiority in 

 aircraft for mobile and active defence 

 )and overhead strategical reconnaissance, 

 and large rigid dirigibles in the hands 

 of naval officers, with an auxiliary ser- 

 vice of hydro-aeroplanes, will alone 

 meet this need. The history of the past 

 few years shows that in good or bad 

 weather, fog or no fog, a German rigid 

 balloon can move about unseen by 

 night and out of reach bv day, appear- 

 ing over a fortress when least expected." 



These things must be repeated ad 

 nauseam until the Committee of De- 



fence insist on the adoption of an 

 aerial budget and the provision of the 

 necessary craft to ensure the maximum 

 of offence or the minimum of defence, 

 whichever policy is demanded by the 

 circumstances which may arise. 



THE ANTI- AIRSHIP GUN. 



" Breech-Screw " lays down in Cham- 

 bers's Journal certain qualifications 

 which a gun must possess to be capable 

 of engaging aircraft. 



These qualifications are: — The gun 

 must be able to shoot at vessels flying 

 directly above it, must have an all- 

 round field of fire and great rapidity 

 and a^curacv of fire, and possess con- 

 siderable mobility. It requires, too, in 

 addition to many other things, special 

 ammunition — a shell to leave a smoke- 

 trail after it in its trajectory, and a fuse 

 sensitive enough to act on the envelope 

 of a dirigible or the wing of an aero- 

 plane. Now, no piece at present used in 

 the field or elsewhere possesses all these 

 qualifications ; and although modifica- 

 tions are being carried out by some 

 countries — notably France and Italy — 

 on their field-guns, it is universally re- 

 cognised that none of these weapons, 

 even when so modified, is suitable for 

 use against aircraft. It is not to be 

 supposed, however, that no attempt will 

 be made by these guns to attack air- 

 vessels ; the unforeseen sometimes does 

 happen, and a lucky shot is always pos- 

 sible ; but the enormous expenditure of 

 ammunition will certainly not be justi- 

 fied by the meagre results obtained. 



One of the best weapons made to-day 

 comes, like many other good things, 

 from Germanw It is a three-inch gun, 

 has an all-round field of fire, and can 

 elevate to seventy-five degrees. Its ver- 

 tical range is twenty thousand feet, and 

 it carries over land for about six miles. 

 Its shell, which weighs twelve pounds, 

 has a soecial fuse, and leaves a smoke- 

 trail after it. This piece has a high 

 velocity, and fires thirty rounds a 

 minute It is mounted on a travelling 

 platform, which can be carried about in 

 an armoured motor-car. The gun, plat- 

 form, sixty shells, and six men weigh 

 four and a-half tons. 



