Robot Gun

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 526, 1 December 1928, Page 6

Robot Gun

For Use Against Planes AIMS AND TRAINS ITSELF An anti-aircraft Robot gun that computes and holds its own range against invading flyers, a light tank that moves at 22 miles an hour, and a more thoroughly motorised ordnance equipment than has hitherto been displayed in the United States were features of the army manoeuvres at Aberdeen. Maryland. witnessed by four members of President Coolidge’s Cabinet. At a horizontal range of 15,000yds the gun was trained on a target towed by an airplane Five theoretical hits were recorded, and the target had 10 holes from shrapnel. The three-inch anti-aircraft gun was able to compute and hold its own range, even ascertaining the altitude of the approaching plane through sound waves. The gun was mounted on a moving truck. The “Robot” is expected to develop into a useful defensive weapon. Observers said that the plane towing the target was so high as not to be visible to the naked eye until the exploding shells marked a white trail along the path of the moving “enemy. Between the cloud-like bursts the sleeve-target appeared as a dark speck. The new naval 16-inch gun was tried out. This is the largest gun used to date in. the United States Navy. The shell weighs a ton, and the charge 7021 b. The gun’s maximum range is «*•» miles.