GERMAN GLIDER BOMB

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXIV, Issue 29, 3 January 1944, Page 5

GERMAN GLIDER BOMB

HOW IT IS OPERATED. RUGBY. Jan. !

Details of the Germans’ latest weapon, the glider bomb, and how it is being used for attacks against shipping, are given by the Evening Standard’s representative who has lately returned from voyages in the Mediterranean. He says the bomb was used in a number of attacks against convoys. The glider bomb is fitted with wings like a small fighter aeroplane, hut has no pilot and no engine and uses a rocket for propulsion. The bomb is released at a great height from the parent aeroplane and comes down in a steep dive reaching a very high speed. The parent plane keeps well away from anti-aircraft guns and in favourable circumstances the bomb can ho guided by radio to ensure that it hits the target. There is a green light in the tail of the glider bomb to assist accurate control from the parent plane. Most of the successes the Germans achieved were due to the factor of surprise. Tn the first place it was wrongly identified as a fighter aeroplane, and the mistake was not discovered until too late. Now, all the potentialities cf the glider bomb and measures for putting it into operation and to winter it have been made known to the Merchant Service. One of the reasons wliv the glider bond) is by no moans infallible is that after release the parent plane must be able to maintain a steady course if the flight of the bomb is to be guided by radio. When the parent plane is attacked and has to take avoiding action, all control over the direction of the j glider bomb is lost. Air protection for convovs with fighters is a highly effective answer.—Official Wireless.