DEFENCE PLANS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 224, 19 June 1944, Page 5

DEFENCE PLANS

Robot Plane Held Of Small Value EXPERT VERDICT (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received 1 June 18, 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, June 18. High-ranking officers and gunnery experts met at tiie Anti-Aircraft Command headquarters today to work out detailed plans for the destruction of the ‘German pilotless bombers, said the “Evening Standard.” It can now be disclosed that the Anti-Aircraft Command laid down a tactical plan of action some months ago after receiving reports .that the Germans were preparing to launch a large-scale pilotless bomber attack against Britain. The following facte 'so far have emerged: The pilotless bomber’s flight can be predicted and charted from the moment it crosses the coast. It flies low and cannot take evasive action. In these circumstances large-scale flak box barrages are wasteful and useless; the pilotless bomber calls for precision shooting. The “Standard” adds that the latest reports indicate that the pilotless plane’s maximum range is 150 miles. It carries just over a ton of high-explosive. The plane cannot be used for precision bombing; the speed and range are predetermined before it takes off, andi it is liable to be slowed down or swerved off its course by wind. The plane is jet-propelled, but not radio-directed. It preserves balance and steadiness in flight by the use of a gyroscopic device. Large nui ibers of the pilotless bombers are being p: oduced, according to reports reaching London, though the number is limited by the number of precision instruments required for each plane. “Ton Little, Too Late.”

Aviation experts writing in the Sunday newspapers claim that the pilotless planes are already doomed as a military weapon. Ti e “Sunday Express” correspondent say,: “Too little and too late is the verdicr. of British experts on Hitler’s new secret weapon. It might have interfered seriously with the invasion preparations if i t had been used l in thousands some months ago. Now they are unlikely to .prove of military importance. The enemy presumably has a stock of pilotless planes, but the wastage suggests that they .cannot be used even in this week’s small strength for very long. “The Gemans are depending on the blast power of the charge to protect the robot from ov.r fighters. They claim that any fighter exploding a pilotless plane would itself be destroyed by the blast.” The correspondent states that the pilotless planes e-iich cost £5OOO to £9OOO sterling. The pilotless plane is much smaller than a Spitfire. It is really a midget plane. At night time it shows a distinct yellow plow at the rear and ejects streams of t lick smoke in small thick puffs. The pli ne has a distinctive rhythmic note. A report from a district in the south of England stated that during Thursday night various districts were automatically tired on by machine-guns. The Ministry of Home Security issued a warning to the public: ‘‘When the engine of a pilotless plane stops and the light at the end of the machine is seen, to go out, it may mean that an explosj, ion will soon follow, perhaps in 5 to 15 seconds.” Observer’s Report. A “Daily Express” correspondent on the coast of southern England on Friday said: “For 12 hours I have been watching Germany’s robots of the air in their first real attacks against these shores. The prelude to the battle began on June 13 when Berlin radio announced that Folkestone and Maidstone had been attacked. People then saw strange white lights in the sky. Another of these strange lights was seen last night flying toward Britain high over the sea. Every gun within range opened up as it crossed the coast, and flashes from exploding anti-aircraft shells were seen all round it. “Two more strange lights appeared on each side of the first one, both flying much lower. The thunder of the guns greeted them. Searchlights picked up two tiny white objects like gnats with short wings and flashlights on their backs. They were so low and so steady that someone said, ‘They must be robots. Nothing human could have the nerve to go straight into that flak.’ The nbise of their engines was rough and laboured.” The Stockholm “Afton Tidningen,” in a leader, advances the theory that the Germans used Sweden as a target for experiments with pilotless planes. Recalling the recent discovery in Sweden of a lArojectile of this kind which was apparently fired from the Danish island of Bornholm, the newspaper suggests that Germany was then trying to test the range, accuracy, and destructive force of the new weapon. The newspaper urges that Sweden should foil the attempt by keeping all the secret. Peenmunde Raid Recalled. The aeronautical correspondent of the “Daily Express” asks: "Why wasn’t there a surprise? Take your mind back to the heavy Bomber Command raid nearly a year ago against a small German target in the forest at Peenmunde, on the Baltic coast near Stettin, when 700 heavy bombers picked off a place in u single night objective where there was a large and important research station where the Germans were believed to be experimenting with pilotless planes. “Photographic experts later detected similar buildings in northern France. British and American bombers in the last six months have pounded mystery spots, and the results may well have saved Britain from an attack of far greater intensity. This new weapon of the Germans is really a buzz-bomb which comes across the Channel when conditions are believed to be favourable. The new weapon, according to reports, has a wing span of about 10 feet, and is launched from concrete emplacements.”