OUR FUTURE IN THE AIR

Otago Witness, Issue 3443, 9 March 1920, Page 23

OUR FUTURE IN THE AIR

"A GLOOMY PICTURE." GERMAN SCHEMES. GENERAL iSEELYTS WARNING. (Fbom Oca Own Cobbespondent.) LONDON, December 24. Major G. G. Tryon, M.P., has been appointed Under-secretary for Air in succession to Major-general the Right Hon. J. E. B Seely, 0.8., D. 5.0.. MJP., who resigned. Major Tryon, the son of Admiral Sir George Tryon, who went down with his flagship, the Victoria, after collision with the Oamperdown, has been Unionist member for Brighton since 1910. He served in- the Grenadier Guards from 1890 to 1902, taking part in the South African campaign, and, rejoining on the outbreak of war, became commandant of the London District School of Instruction. He has travelled widely in the colonies, and is an able advocate of tariff reform, on which ho has written a book. In the course of an article to the Evening News, General Seely writes: "In the future, and not the far distant future, the increase of air power and air 'development will alter completely all our conceptions of strategy and international relationships. The power of surprise, which enabled Japan to gain the initial advantage' over Russia, will be multiplied a hundredfold. Other countries realise this fact, especially Germany. In a recent number of the German technical publication on automobilism and aviation, published in Berlin, there appears the following statement: —'The Entente has succeeded bv its numerical superiority in destroying the military ■ power and prestige of Germany, but in all that pertains to aviation the defeated are still masters of the air, and will undoubedly remain so in the years to come. The industry of the Entente in this domain is much too far behind ever to catch us up.' WHAT GERMANY AND FRANCE ARE DOING. "Germany is at this moment subsidising a very large number of aerial transport companies with the avowed intention of maintaining the aviation industry. France, in response, is subsidising similar companies, and is already devoting many millions of francs annually to this purpose. The result is that in both- countries not only the production of machines, but, what is far more important, the retention of the designing staffs of the great aviation companies, is .i.'sured. for years to come. There is the uncomfortable fact that the conversion of peace machines into war machines in the air is an affair of a few hours, or even of a few minutes, thus differing entirely from ships oh the sea. WHERE TO STRIKE. "Most people have failed to realise the complete revolution in the 'possibilities of warfare caused by the fact that men at last can fly. The rigid lines on the western front gave little scope to the air arm compared with what would have happened 'in more open warfare, and what will happen when its possibilities are further explored; but, even so, air power was decisive in the long run. The object of war is not to kill off your enemies, for you can never kill them all. but to induce them, by tcrrii' or- inconvenience, to accept your terms. Tin killing is purely incidental. The way to make them accept your terms is so to strike at their seat of government and their centres of industry and transport that they cannot, or dare not, or will not continue the struggle. THE SUDDEN BLOW. "On land it may take years, even with great numerical superiority, to menace the seat of. government or powers of production and transportation of the enemy. But from the air the heart of the enemy is open to instant attack, and it follows that the wise nation will stand on the defensive on the ground while it attacjes with all its power in the air. There is no insuperable mechanical difficulty in constructing aeroplanes made entirely of metal, practically immune from all risks of fire, capable of carrying bombs and other projectiles weighing many tons, flying at a speed of 150 miles an hour and directed by wireless to any required point within the range of the machine. That range would cover the greater part of Europe even to-day; in the future the range will be greatly lengthened. INEFFICACY OF AN ARMED FLEET. "This means," says the writer, "that any , Power which gains initial command of the ' air will be able within a very few weeks to destroy the whole of the enemy s merchant ships, all his main railway stations, and by a combination of explosive and incendiary fire, all his-large cities. If chemistry be called in aid, results far more terrible to human and animal life must follow Moreover, should the attacked be a maritime State, his armed fleet will not help him, for even with our present more imperfect methods surface ships have a poor chance, and in days not far distant that chance must disappear altogether "This i& a gloomy picture, but it is a true picture, and it is folly not to see it clearly and face the facts.' AN INDEPENDENT AIR MINISTRY. To meet the new conditions General Seely suggests three essential points. Thus: , , . , " The first and most important is to secure the establishment of the League of Nations. This will not prevent a Power from involving the world in well-nigh universal destruction— nothing can do that—but it will make any Power less likely to try it on. It will make the attempt more improbable. , . . , ~ / "The second thing is to ensure that we the art of aviation alive. We cannot alter the face of our country "to suit the air-craft, so wo must alter the aircraft to suit the country. We must evolve which can take the air and return to the ground in ordinary British country Although in many of our distant possession,, notably Egypt,- W<B have climate and ground admirably suited to aviation, British industry will never flourish until it can be used within our own islands. Designing staffs must be maintained and research must -bo stimulated by every possible moans. . " Thirdly, and this must be essential, we must have an Air Ministry with the best brains we have got, givift* their whole time to this problem, which overshadows all others in importance. This Air Ministry must be wholly independent of either the War Office or the Admiralty. The science which it directs is advancing so much more rapidly than that of the older services that it is unthinkable that it can . be wisely. directed and controlled, even if time per-

mitted, by the responsible head of another service. DOMINION REPRESENTATION. "The Admiralty and the War Office must be purged of the old-fashioned and reactionary people, who thwart scientific- advance. There must be a Council of Defence which will ensure co-ordination of all our efforts instead of the wasteful methods that now obtain owing to the lack of joint effort.on land and sea and in the air. Oh this council the dominions should be represented so that they too shall take their share in the newer plans for Imperial security, and so that we may have the advantage of the fresh minds. ACTION—NOT TALK. " We must really do the things we have promised to do instead 'of only talking about them. Air routes must be established here and abroad; air lighthouses, directional wireless, telephones, landing grounds, the rapid dissemination of meteorological information from and_ to machines in the air and between stations must be established without delay. " The people of this- country have been told to expect these things. They understand better than their rulers the necessity of prompt action, and they will not forgive those who fail to carry it out. Let us see to it that no old prejudices, no oldfashioned notions, no musty doctrines stand in the way of drastic reform. Only so can we keep our place in the sun and secure to our race "the blessings of freedom and of peace."