THE AIRSHIP IN WAR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9586, 4 September 1909, Page 7

THE AIRSHIP IN WAR.

, An article in the August number of McClure's Magazine is remarkable for its confident predictions of the future importance of airships in warfare, and for its authoritative tone. | 'lhe writers have been for some time [ closely associated with Count Zepj pellin in his marvellous experiments and have apparently imbibed much of their hero's exuberant en thusiasm. It is shown, to the writers' satisfaction at leapt, that the Zeppelin airship is destined to revolutionise modern warfare, doing away with the employment of large masses of men, eliminating infantry and.cavarly and rendering the battle of the future one between a few expert artilleryman in the air and their opponents on terra nrma. Present artillery is useless fur coping with aerial battleships, but the Krupps have produced a new type to meet the emergency. It is designed to carry a blazing shell that will set fire to the gaseous | contents of the airships, causing art explosion and immediate destruction of the craft. Ihe range of this gun, firing directly upward, is extremely limited, s» much so that the writers in McClure's do not believe it would prove especially formidable. When the distance, speed and erratic movement of the giant airship aie taken into consideration one appreciates what an elusive mark it is. But, in the 1 opinion of these writers, those on the ground will find it impossible to escape the fire oigthe airship. It will be equipped with rapid fire guns and a machine rifle pumping out 400 bullets a minute on any troops within two miles, "exactly as a man turns the stream of a garden hose against a tree." The range of the airship's is greatly increaesd on account of thier position, while the artillerymen below will find it impossible to reply effectively because the target will be constantly | shifting. The result:—"lf cavalry or infantry are moved over a country partolled by airships, they will be annihilated. This means the end of land war as we now know it." A thrilling picture, indeed, but it shows only one side of the question. May it not be that the efficiency of the new guns for shooting at airships has been minimj ised? It is said that the new weapon I also contains other advantages which have not yet made public, and which will enable it to fight the airship on practically equal terms. There can be no question, however, that the airship, in some form or other, is destined to play an important part in the warfare of the future.