A CHANCE HAS SLIPPED AWAY
Williams, Major Al
A Chance Has Slipped Away By MAJOR AL WILLIAMS SEVERAL TIMES now we have had the Nazi submarine all "washed up and finished." And here it is again with new appointments and a new bag of tricks....
...This, in turn, means that the chance of winning a quick war via the air has slipped past...
...The bomber may be hidden by thousands of feet of the densest fog and cloud formations, yet the Radar indicator permits the gunner to connect his guns electrically with the Radar and begin firing...
...Radar is the greatest single revolutionary development in this war...
...It appears that the torpedoes are fired while the sub is submerged, after the sub has located its target by means of Radar...
...It is Radar which makes it possible for the antiaircraft gunner to locate, the position, speed, and course of the unseen bomber...
...Evidently the civilians in charge of our war effort insist upon underestimating the resourcefulness of the enemy...
...It is, as you know, a system whereby intercepted radio waves indicate the position, course, and speed of the intercepting object...
...Here's the U-boat up again with some kind of a torpedo that apparently is guided by Radar and is carrying a far heavier explosive charge, strong enough to shatter the stoutest hulls...
...Radar has pushed the air war further away from the surface of the earth and bids fair to increase the push to still greater altitudes...
...The increase in explosive force of the torpedo charge needs no discussion, since as soon as man built something that could withstand the best round shot, the rifled cannon was developed which possessed greater penetrating power...
...This means, of course, that the accuracy of the bombardier is decreasing, as that of the AA gunner equipped with Radar is increasing...
...Today it is suicidal to fly over a heavily-defended enemy position under 15,000 feet...
...Radar has increased the gunfire accuracy of the anti-aircraft gun from the 5,000 feet of the Spanish Civil War to 15,000-20,000 feet...
Vol. 7 • November 1943 • No. 44
