BOMBING OPERATIONS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 156, 17 September 1941, Page 4

BOMBING OPERATIONS

THE increased activity of the Royal Air Force over Germany a,nd German-occupied territory should not be measured in the number of flight operations multiplied only by the number of aeroplanes taking part in such activities. Two other factors must be included in the efficiency equation the increased explosive force of the new bombs which the British are using, and the greater efficiency of bombers to place their bombs on the target aimed at. British scientists have been able to produce a much more effective explosive, a,nd the potential for destruction in the same weight of bombs has been increased many times. The Royal Air-Force has also been, equipped with the Sperry bomb sight, which is manufactured in the United States, and was made available to Great Britain a year ago. The Sperry bomb sight has proved to be of great value, enabling direct hits to be scored from altitudes up to 8000 feet, although under test conditions in America remarkably accurate results have been secured at heights above 20,000 ft. The principal differences between this sight and the standard R.A.F. one, appears to be that the latter is based on a telescopic sight, requiring the alignment of cross-hairs to fix the moment when, the bomb should be released. The pilot- manoeuvres the aircraft according to the orders of the bomb-aimer. The Sperry sight is understood to be built around the automatic gyroscopic pilot, which makes it possible for the bomb-aimer to control the aircraft himself while he is aiming at the target. Reports from America indicate that a new automatic bomb sight—the Nordern—has been designed and constructed. For this is claimed even greater accuracy than the Sperry. The efficiency quotient of the Royal Air Force to-day is therefore the base period multiplied by the increased number of aircraft in active operation, multiplied, again by the increased activity of each aircraft in use, multiplied again by the increased explosive force of each bomb released, and multi plied yet again by the increased accuracy of the bombing operations as a result of the use of the Sperry bomb sight. The advances which have been made by both America and Britain in air operations in respect to detection, interception andr bombing, will be made available to Russia, and the ef fectiveness of the operations which the Russians are conducting on Berlin and Eastern Germany is likely to move up in consequence.