AERIAL WARFARE OF FUTURE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 206, 16 September 1937, Page 8

AERIAL WARFARE OF FUTURE

Oui Own Correspondent.)

Bombers Will Swoop from Stratosphere OBSOLESCENT FORCES

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w iDLiJLiis (jt tujn , Tnis nay. Air warfare which will laugh at anti-aircraft guns and operate from heights miles above defences is described by Major C. C. Travers, a British army officer now on a visit to New Zealand. "The only thing that can be said of the air forces of the various Powers to-day," said Major Travers, "is that they will certainly be obsolete within chree years. The Western Powers probably occupy the same position as the Japanese who have been building British-type machines engined with creations of proved performance but of too great age. To-day the Americanshave just developed two types of machine which when put into operation will make all others obsolete. "The first of these is the new Sikorsky bombing plane, built by the tJnited Aircraft Corporation for the American Navy. It is a huge experimental ship powered by four Pratt and Whitney enginfcs of 1050 h.p. each and all-metal, high-wing, , full cantilevcr, with the • present designation of XPBS-1. - Its militaxy loading is at least as high as that of any known flying machine, it has the long range needed by navy.patrol vessels and.it is a flying boat. . It has many devices for safety and is equipped with roomy living accommodation for the crew. It exceeds all . previous flying boats by five or six ,tons lifting " capacity and will be useful for civil aviation as well,. „"The second machine is a highspeed bomber which can actually operate from the stratosphere. It is designed to fly from five to seven miles high and will be able to go much higher in comfort. It is the first "air submarine," as the builders say, andhas the benefit of a- compartment divided into two in which the air pressure can be regulated so that the aviator flying high will have no trouble in breathing comfortably. It is even possible to have different air pressures and densities in the different cocnpartnjents. "Use of such a machine will mean that existing aeroplanes will not be able to intercept it until it is over its target, if it chooses o descend, or that it will be able to bomb cities with in-

cendiary bombs (the type of aerial attack now admitted to be the most dangerous on a large scale) and escape with impunity. Such things as groundlevel air defences, of course, beeome ludicrously ineffective. Also, if the bombing 'air submarine' is to be brought down it will probably have to be.over its target where it will do much damage. . . "These things are yet some distance ahead, but not very far ahead. Types of each machine have been built, operated with success and will be reordered. Events in aviation are now moving so fast that one of the disturbing facts in the international armaments situation is that the countries will shortly have many millions invested in aeroplanes which will soon be on the ovt-moded list. Some country, nearing the end of its resources, may be tempted to embark hurriediy on a military adventure by this spectre of obsolesence of its war material. "