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284
THE AMERICAN REVIEW OF REVIEWS
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[[caption]] AIRPLANE BOMBS
(Weighing 1000 and 500 pounds, half of which is explosive material. Of all types of explosive--cannon projectile, submarine bomb, or torpedo--the airplane bomb is most efficient)[[/caption]]

about 55 pounds of explosive. The submarine mine, used for harbor defense, weighing from 1200 to 1700 pounds, carries about 200 pounds of explosives. Water torpedoes range from about 200 pounds of explosive with a 1500-pound torpedo, to about 700 pounds with a 3000-pound torpedo.
The accuracy of bombing depends entirely upon the distance to the target. If hostile aviation and anti-aircraft defense can be subdued by the action of pursuit and attack aviation, objects on the water or on the ground can be hit with great accuracy. A projectile from a cannon is limited to something like 60,000 yards, and in the case of a torpedo to about one-tenth of that distance. A modern bombardment airplane can go out 200 miles and come back again with its load, and still have a reserve of 200 or more miles of flight. The Army has recently tested an airplane which shows that it can carry 5000 pounds of bombs with a flying capacity of about 800 miles.
As to expense, the present bombardment airplane, with all its accessories, would cost less than $80,000. Compared to this, the present 16-inch gun, with its mount, costs $500,000. The present battleship, with its accessories, costs about $45,000,000. It is believed that a single 1000-pound bomb, striking in the water within thirty feet of a battleship, will greatly injure it or put it out of line so that it will become an easy object for attack. This is entirely independent of any hits on the battleship itself. There are many other new aerial projectiles in development for attack on navies.

Flying Artillery
Attack aviation is organized like bombardment aviation--that is, into squadrons, groups, wings, etc. Its mission is to attack at low altitude, with gunfire and light-weight bombs On land it is directed against personnel, military trains, tanks, railroad trains, anti-aircraft posts, searchlight posts, hostile airdromes, and any target susceptible of fire attack. On water it attacks all classes of vessels capable of being destroyed single-handed by means of fire attack; against heavily armored ships its object is to distract the attention or destroy the personnel, the equipment, the anti-aircraft defense cannon, searchlights, and machine guns, to attack the observation posts on such vessels, drop parachute flares at night, and take measures for covering the attack of bombardment airplanes.
The type of airplanes devised for this purpose at present is covered with quarter-inch armor over the space for its personnel and motors. It is built in sections of three everywhere, so that at least two members at any one place must be shot off in order to bring down the plane. It is armed with 37-mm. cannon and seven machine guns.
Anti-aircraft artillery, machine guns, searchlight defenses, balloon barrages, liaison systems, a meteorological system, and a sys-

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[[caption]] AN AMERICAN ATTACK AIRPLANE
(For use against troops and other formations of the ground. It is equipped with seven machine-guns and one 37-mm. cannon, with two engines of 400 h.p. each, and armor protecting the personnel and engines. Twenty per cent. of an American air force should be attack aviation)