Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1925. AERIAL WARFARE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10337, 26 February 1925, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1925. AERIAL WARFARE.

The startling' pictures that have been drawn of the terrors that will afflict the world in the next war are not mere figments of the imagination but a vivid statement of a cold scientific achievement. Pilotless aeroplanes have been under actual test for some time; as a matter of fact, experimental research was begun in 1915 and at one time it was hoped

the use of machines, controlled by wireless would be possible in the Great War. The cabled message this week merely announces that the British and French experts who have been experimenting have solved the final problems in the perfecting of the most terrible engine of destruction that man has ever invented. It seems almost incredible that it is not yet 16 years since M. Bleriot astonished the world by making the first flight between France

and Britain, flying- the Channel in a flimsy single-seater monoplane of such low power that when the daring- pioneer reached the shore he had to seek a gap in j the cliffs because he could not j climb over them. His machine carried him at a speed of from 35 to 40 miles an hour, yet to-day we j contemplate without marvel the j possibility of attaining 230 miles. And while' the gallant Frenchman had to nose along* the Dover cliff s searching for a suitable opening, modern machines have risen to a height of some seven miles. The air express of to-day carries ten passengers at a speed of 125 miles

an hour and does the journey in almost any weather, whereas M. Bleriot had to wait several weeks for a day calm enough for him to cross. Such is the contrast in peace-time aviation presented in 15 years. On the military side there have been no less startling advances. During- the war from the yet crude machines that Avere the eyes of the opposing armies there developed with astonishing speed the fighting 'planes that battled in the air and the great bombers dropping tons of high explosives upon the enemy below. In 1921 Marshal Foch said: "The potentialities of aerial attack on a large scale are almost incalculable, and it is clear that such an attack, owing to its crushing moral effect upon a nation may impress public opinion to the point of disarming the Government. Thus it becomes decisive." Since these words were uttered there has been a rapid advance in the power of aircraft. The speed of military machines has been nearly doubled ; the power to rise to immense heights has greatly increased; the size of bombs carried has risen. The latest United States air bombs weigh 43001bs

against bombs of 20001 b., the largest dropped in tlie war. One monster two-ton bomb when it exploded threw earth up 1200 feet and displaced more than 1000 cubic yards of hard soil. These ] enormous engines of destruction I will be rendered much more terrible in their power of desti;uctiveness by ihe new invention, and their application will be

governed only by mechanical capacity for manufacture. In the hands of a ruthless enemy they I would make for the overthrow of I civilisation, and the suggested limitation of aerial forces offers but a poor defence. The goodwill! 1 of the nations and the sincerity of their desire for peace will be tested to the utmost in devising I an effective means to combat this! new menace to the world.