WARFARE OF THE FUTURE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue 13050, 12 January 1917, Page 2

WARFARE OF THE FUTURE.

AERIAL BATTLES AND SWIFT VICTORIES. BIPLANES TO DESTROY ZEPPELINS. ' By An Air Pilot. We are to-day beginning to realise that in aircraft" we have hitherto uncontrolled factor of war thft will in the future alter entirely the. present conditions ol" human existence.

No one dares to predict what the. future holds in store for aviation; bub. it may safely be deduced that wnrfard in the future will be to all intents and purposes instantaneous. The belligerent fleets of aircraft will set out with the dawn or the-darkness, as the ease may be, and- within twelve hours of entering into the conflict it must he finished one way or the other. For the .airman there is no falling back on a. reserve line of trenches, no preliminary skirmishing and no quarter; the fight must be to a finish. THREE PHASES.

Aerial strategy and tactics are practically non-existent- at present. With every combat in mid-air some, new theory is set lip, .some new conclusion arrived at, and as yet nothing can. bo definite. We may say for-practical"pur-poses that- the strategical work is confined to seaplane and airship scouting with the fleets'at sea and long distance aeroplane raids into, the- enemy's country ; tactical work to reconnaissance trips over the neighborhood of the lines :and the direction of artillery fire. The battle 'formation of the aeroplane squadron is now and will in the future be ■similar to that of a fleet at sea. Even .now " the two methods of battle, are closely, akin. There are three distinct phases of aerial combat to be considered —aeroplane versus aeroplane, airship against airship, and aeroplane against airship. [ Which is the most useful as a fighting unit is a difficult matter to decide.

Thus far one is inclined to say the light,

high-powered aeroplane. Zeppelins and .airships are for the most part- clumxy and unweildy beasts. Seaplanes, again, for the most part are heavy and slow, to answer to their controls.

The important factors are the lifting power of the machine and weather conditions: The p'ropfcH'tyi of "lift" ••■'is created on the one hand by mechanical devices, and on the other hand by the balloon portion of the cralft which, is lighter than the air. Lifts spell speed: endurance and climbing powers, and therefore the machine with the greater lift is the better equipped for fighting, purposes. WIND AND CLOUD.

Next in order of importance is wind. The engine may be giving a speed of ■sixty miles per'hour, and: the craft be flying in the teeth of a 20 m.p.h. wind, thus its actual speed woukl be forty ;; not sixty miles an hour. Again, two enemy machines, A and B, are' approaching one another to give battle. Both have a speed of '6O m.p.h., but A' is flying "down" with a fifteen-mile wind* at the back" of him. Their relative speeds would be: A seventy-five, B fortv-five, or an advantage of thirty, miles an hour for A, but on the turn—the majority of aerial i-coirtbats. aro fought out on the principle of circling iind wheeling—the advantage would; be transferred to B. Goodi pilotage is of supreme importance; the pilot who is able to get the most out of his machine and knows it best will invariably gain the day. Clouds are often made great use of by pilots. Almost every day we read of a machine dashing out from behind a bank of cloud and taking another bv surprise On the other hand, clouds may prove disastrous to both combatants, owing to the peculiar property they possess of influencing the stability of the machine, often causing it to nose dive suddenly towards the earth. Lift, however, is pt.ill the great factor since the fight always develops into a struggle for the upper berth, and i.s usually fought out in an upward direction It is climb, climb, climb, then, with the wind at his back, a last- swoop ■down on the back of the enemy's craft —his most vulnerable position—and' the fight is over. Various expedients, are made use of to gain this end, such as getting between an opponent and the sun, "diving" suddenly, and "loopins." Wth either aeroplane or airship, it is the uppermost position that •■••Hints. The type of craft most useful for this class of work is the high-engined biplane of the "tractor" —propeller to the fore —type, the machine' gun. firing through the. blades of the propeller. The essentials of. these machines aro speed and ability to climb quickly. The slower machines, with greater powers of endurance, are more useful for bornhraiding and reconnaissance purposes. "LIFT" THE FACTOR,

Airship combat has yet to materialise. Many opinions and. theories, i often widely conflicting have put froward concerning the possibilities and probabilities of such conflicts, but. I nothing definite can be advanced'until a battle between airships has taken place. The opinion of the majority of the experts is that an airship would.be little bettor than useless to meet an. airship, and for our own particular requirements—that. is. the repelling of Zeppelin raids—aeroplanes are of more iv ?; which brings us to the combat between aeroplane and airship. Considering first their main qualities: the' airship hasi greater "lifting" powers, is more heavily armed, can climb at a much faster rate, and: has greater powers of endurance; whereas the aeroplane has it faste- turn of speed, is more easily manoeuvred,, and is less unwieldy. \V ith the Zeppelin at a greater altitude than the aeroplane, the latter. is> powerless. At the same altitude th<? odds are greatly in favor of the airship, its one vulnerable point being the stern —the Zeppelin guns only firing in fore and amidships directions, leaving the stern unprotected. With the aeroplane on top tli? airship is entirely at its mercy, and its broad back presents) a target that cannot easily be--missed. The tendency of the Zeppelin commanders, .however is to increase rather than decrease this altitude with every rui-J, which renders attack by aeroplane more difficult, but, on the other hand, aeroplanes are being developed' at so remarkable a speed that they will soon be able to climb above any Zeppelin altitude. When that occurs the Zeppelin menace will end. fnv