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the fastest battle cruiser, the shadow cast by a moving airship was used as a target and bombing practices carried out at altitudes ranging from 2000 to 5000 feet with excellent results, an average of 30 per cent effective hits being obtained.

With well organized means of air defense to repel an invading force by sea, the attacking force, if it is to hope for any measure of success, must be accompanied by the largest number of aircraft carriers obtainable carrying a full complement of pursuit or fighting planes, as these will provide the only means of defense for the fleet from air attack. As was pointed out above, this strength will be definitely limited by the number of aircraft carriers that accompany the fleet so that a nation called upon to repel such an attack and provided with an adequate Air Force should usually be able to attain air superiority. In addition, the carrier, while it fulfills the air requirements of a fleet for fleet actions on the high seas, becomes in the case of an attack against a country possessing a suitable Air Force, the most vulnerable part of the fleet due to the ease with which its flying deck can be destroyed and to the fact that it is difficult to launch planes rapidly from it for its protection.

This is not to be construed as an argument that the Army Air Force should replace the Navy, nor that the Navy is obsolete, but rather to point out that economy may be effected by a more extensive employment of aircraft within its useful role as an important means in the defense of the country.

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