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Not for that reason alone are they of value. The modern, fast heavy
commercial transport plane can be converted, at such workshops as already
exist in Australia, into military craft in a few days. If they had been
built primarily for military work they would be differently designed
they would be able to dive at perhaps 100 more miles an hour but, as
bombers, they would have great value.
There are places, too, for commercial or amateur pilots of every grade
in a fully-mobilised air force. Apart from the flying of transport or com
munication machines, it is considered that a B class pilot can be made
competent in at least one branch of more specialised Air Force work in
a month, an amateur pilot in three months.
Range not all-important.
Air Force officiers say that too much importance is often given, in public
discussions to the range of military aircraft. The value of long range is
chiefly to enable machines quickly to reach a base as close as possible to their
objective, so that the minimum amount of time will be spent flying
between the base and the objective for each attack. The British bomber
which is reported to have a range of 7000 miles has a normal fighting range
of perhaps, only 700 miles. The longer range is obtained by carrying addi
tional fuel tanks in place of bombs.
What a defending air force needs is not so much machines of great range,
but sufficient numbers and a high bomb-carrying capacity. 2)
There is a fine precision, therefore, in air force policy. If Australia has
300 fighting machines, and has its own factories to replace losses, it is
safe from sustained attack by any Power which can house only 300 machines
in its carriers.
The Air Force is in process of expansion to a first-line strength of about
200 machines in 17 squadrons, eight of which are now in existence.
The Air Force Headquarters Staff is reticent about the numbers of the
reserve machines, but it is indicative that the Salmond report, on which
the organisation of the Australian Air Force is based,stipulated, generally,
that one machine be kept in reserve for every one in the first line; that is to
say, that a first-line strength of 200 the present objectieve means a
total strength of 400 efficient modern planes.
9.2-inch guns adequate.
The weapon chosen for the fortresses 3) is the 9.2-inch gun, which is the
standard coastdefence gun throughout the Empire. Though battleships carry
15-inch and 16-inch guns, the Navy considers that no battleships would
venture within range of such guns, and outside that range (the Army
considers) battleships would be ineffective if their object was to hit definite
military objectives. To those who believe that an enemy would attempt to
subdue Australia by bombarding Sydney, it may be said that naval vessels can
1) Dit cijfer komt ons sterk overdreven voor. Red.
2) Hoewel voor landen, welker weermacht strategisch offensief zal optre
den, een zóó groote actieradius gewenscht is, dat men de belangrijke objecten
in het vij. land kan bereiken, geldt zulks inderdaad niet althans in mindere
mate voor landen, welke zich tot het strategisch defensief bepalen.
Niettemin achten wij voor kustverdediging hetgeen toch het karakter
van de verdediging zoowel van Australië als van Ned.-Indië is een
zoodanigen actieradius, dat men de drijvende vij. vliegtuigbases kan aan
grijpen vóór deze de gelegenheid hebben de bases aan den wal aan te vallen,
noodzakelijk. Overigens is in onzen archipel voor snelle strategische ver
plaatsingen een groote actieradius toch wel van groote beteekenis. Red.
3) voor de Austr. kustverdedigingswerken. Red.
