ent the offensive armament of aeroplanes has been confined
to light machine guns such as the Hotchkiss, Berthier, Schwartlose,
and Maxim weapons. So far as the arming of aeroplanes is concerned the
indispensable condition is light weight. With airships this factor is
not so vital, the result being that some dirigibles are mounted with
guns, throwing one pound bursting shells, fitted either with delay
action or percussion fuses, the former for preference. These shells are
given a wide cone of dispersion. Experiments are also being made with a
gun similar to the pom-pom which proved so useful in South Africa, the
gun throwing small shells varying from four to eight ounces in weight at
high velocity and in rapid succession. While such missiles would not be
likely to inflict appreciable damage upon an armoured aeroplane, they
would nevertheless be disconcerting to the aviators subjected to
such fire, and in aerial combats the successful undermining of the
adversary's moral is of far greater importance than in land operations,
since immediately ascendancy in the artillery operations is attained the
final issue is a matter of moments.

But the most devastating arm which has yet been contrived for aerial
operations is the light machine gun which has recently been perfected.
The one objective with this weapon is to disable the hostile aircraft's
machinery. It fires an armour piercing projectile which, striking the
motor of any aircraft, would instantly put the latter out of action. The
shell has a diameter of about.75 inch and weighs about four ounces. The
gun is a hybrid of the mitrailleuse and the French "Soixante-quinze,"
combining the firing rapidity of the former with the recoil mechanism
of the latter. This missile has established its ability to penetrate
the defensive armouring of any aeroplane and the motor of the machine
at 1,000 yards' range. This offensive arm is now being manufactured, so
that it is likely to be seen in the near future as the main armament of
aeroplanes.

At the moment widespread efforts are being made in the direction of
increasing the offensive efficiency of aircraft. It is one of the phases
of ingenuity which has been stimulated into activity as a result of the
war.

CHAPTER XII. BATTLES IN THE AIR

Ever since the days of Jules Verne no theme has proved so popular in
fiction as fighting in the air. It was a subject which lent itself to
vivid imagination and spirited picturesque portrayal.