ARMING AEROPLANES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22603, 16 December 1936, Page 19

ARMING AEROPLANES

THE USE OF CANNON BRITAIN THE ONLY EXCEPTION [from otjb own correspondent] LONDON, Nov. 28 Britain's policy of restricting herself to single-seater fighting aeroplanes and ordinary machine-guns and not developing aeroplanes armed with small cannon as well as machine-guns, has been criticised at tho Paris Aero Show, writes Major C. C. Turner in the Daily Telegraph. The principal surprise of the show is the number of aeroplanes armed with cannon.

Great Britain has almost completely neglected this weapon. I understand that there is no suitable British gun of this class. Nor have British aeroplane designers recently been asked to produce aircraft carrying them, although the Perth flying-boat carries a small gun.

The class of gun referred to may Ik* between 20 and 37 mm. calibre. It must fire a high explosive shell at a reasonable rate, and for use on aeroplanes must be "non reactive," its recoil being neutralised as much as possible. Every Power except Britain appears to be acting on the assumption that formations of heavily-armed bombers will be secure against attack by singleseat fighters armed with ordinary machine-guns, and that tho only weapon to deal with them in tho air is the gun with an effective range of 1000 yards or more. When attempting to attack bombers armed with small cannon a singleseater fighter with ordinary machineguns would be under the enemy's fire, and its own guns would bo unable to reach tho target. Moreover, tho damage inflicted by machine-gun bullets is rarely serious. It is agreed that the counteroffensive is the most important consideration, and that it is most likely to prove a deterrent. There are at least two American small cannon suitable for aircraft, and one of these, it is reported, may be manufactured in Great Britain.

Another criticism of British policy is the apparent small provision for the use of parachute flares from aircraft, except for occasional landing purposes. The parachute flare will play so important a part in any .air war of the future that it ought to be a special study, for equipment purposes, reserve stock and tactical training.