NATIONAL AIR FORCE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 388, 24 November 1932, Page 4

NATIONAL AIR FORCE

The publication of figures in I the League of Nations Year

Book concerning the relative I strengths of national air fleets j has caused consiclerable com- ! ment in the Empire press. The | fact that Britain stands numerii cally at the bottom of the list is ! not at all pleasing to those who j hold the firm opinion that mastI ery of the air will form the j dominating factor in the next war. A recent cable pointed out that Britain, who at the end of ; the war possessed the world's | largest air force, has reached the ! present position of numerical inj feriority throngh her own acj tion. This diminution of strength I however, is more apparent than | real. The balance has been ad- ' justed by achievements in engin- | eering design and workmanship I which have placed Great Britain | in the forefront of world airma.n- ' ship. What has been lost in num- | bers has been made up in quality ] and performance. Great Britain possesses the fastest and most - j efficient aircraft in the world, ! and since speed and reliability I are the winning factors in aerial | warfare, quality, rather than | numbers, is the best measure of j ; comparative strengths. "As a j matter of fact," states "The j j Aeroplane" in an editorial comj ment, "we probably have just as I many effeetive first-line aeroi planes as has France, and perhaps more, because all of ours actually fly." This, of course, is a comforting assurance, but it is not enough to quieten public apprehensions concerning the future. Conceding all that may be ; argued in regard to quality as against numbers, the fact re- ; mains that the , odds in actual , warfare are in favour of numi bers. The Freneh preponderance | over Britain is nearly one thou- | sand. The disparity is too great. | It is not a question of Britaip ! versus France, or any other na- ; tion, but of having at hand effeetive argumen't in international diplomacy. That is the point that was made by Sir Aus- ; ten Chamberlain in a speech last ; year against the reduction of oqr | naval strength, and it applies k with even greater force in regard to our strength in aircraft.