WAR IN THE AIR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1322, 28 December 1911, Page 2

WAR IN THE AIR.

BRITISH OFFICER AND AVH-VT WILL HAPPEN. I ' The war in the air which will precede the great battles of the future was dealt with recently in n lecture at the Koval United (service Institution by Captain"C. J. Burke, of tho Army Air Battalion. I Ou the outbreak of war," ho raid, "it is to be expected that the aeroplanes of both sides will endeavour to reconnoitre and to pick up a[ lthc information p o «. siblo about the enemy's concentration areas. Jl is probable that the first duv will seo them in collision, as it is vital to success that the enemy should be deprived of tho lisa of aeroplanes as early as possible in tho campaign. "It appears probable that tho passengers in the aeroplanes will carry weapons of precision, which they will use against their adversaries, and it may even bo necessary tu have recourse lo wrecking the hostile aeroplane by tho "back-wash' of tho propeller, although that is u very risky proceeding. "There will bo a struggle lor the supremacy ol the air, uild wo may assume that a commander whose aeroplanes have defeated their adversaries can hape for an extraordinary amount of clear and accurate information as to his enemy - - dispositions for, and intentions of, battic." Stall of Die War Olhco, foresaw the battle of the future, in which "large masses of aerial craft will b.- used on either side. 'I ho whole subject of niilitarv airmanship was one to which (he OVneral Stall was civing "the most careful consideration." Lieutenant V. L. M. Boothbv. of Ilio Navy, discussing (lie arms with which the floroplanists will fight each other in mid-air, said he would prefer " a shotgun firine a number of steel pellets." .Meanwhile Franco lias some hundreds of military aeroplanes and Great Britain lias sixteen, most of them out of date.