BRITAIN’S FIGHTING AIRCRAFT

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 50, 22 November 1932, Page 8

BRITAIN’S FIGHTING AIRCRAFT

The present uncertainty of the European situation, coupled with the threat of further trouble in the Far East, has given rise to some apprehension in the British House of . Commons concerning our Imperial defences. In a recent speech m Parliament Mr. Baldwin emphasised the menace to British communities-through the use ot aircraft in war time. . It is practically established that aircraft will play an important and destructiveopart in the next war. Haying reached the point that another war is no longer “unthinkable,” British people throughout the Empire are not unnaturally concerned about the state of their air defences. ’ According to official figures compiled for the League o Nations Armam’ents Year Book, the relative positions of the great Powers in respect of fighting aircraft places Great Britain numerically 'at the bottom of the list. ..... , x 1 xn -x ■ - It is pointed out in a message published to-day that, Britain, xvno at the end of the. War possessed the world’s, largest air force, has reached the present position of numerical inferiority through her own action. This diminution of strength, however, is more apparent than real. The balance has been adjusted by achievements in engineering design and workmanship which have placed Great Britain in the forefront of world airmanship. What has been lost in numbers has been made up in quality and performance. Great Britain possesses the fastest and most efficient aircraft in the world, and since speed and reliability are the winning factors in aerial warfare, quality, rather than numbers, is the best measure of comparative strengths. “As a matter of fact,” states The Aeroplane in an editorial comment, “we probably have just about as many effective first-line aeroplanes 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 remains that the odds in actual warfare are in favour of numbers. The French preponderance over Britain is nearly one thousand. The disparity is too great. It is not a question of Britain versus France, or any other nation, but of having at hand an effective argument in international diplomacy. That is the point that was made by Sir Austen Chamberlain in a speech last year against the reduction of our naval strength, and it applies with even greater force in regard to our strength in aircraft.