DIVE BOMBERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 126, 30 May 1942, Page 7

DIVE BOMBERS

TRIED BY BRITISH

Experiments Long Before Present War British Official Wireless. Rec. 12.30 p.m. RUGBY, May 29. A well-informed air commentator in London, discussing the desirability of equipping the R.A.F. with dive-bombers, says that Britain experimented with dive-bombers long before the war. The Hart was designed and used experimentally as a dive-bomber, but showed only faint possibilities. Further experiments were carried on in the United States, and as long ago as July, 1940, Britain placed orders for American dive-bombers. The fact that deliveries of these aircraft are only just coming through is not surprising, says this commentator, who points out that three years from blue-prints to production is quite good time for a new type of aircraft.

Discussing the use of dive-bomb-ers, the commentator said that with adequate air superiority they can attack a target from all points of the compass in such a manner as to give anti-aircraft artillery little chance of shooting them down in the short period required to release the bombs, but they are no more effective against troop concentrations than the R.A.F. ground strafing fighters.