Existing comment:
Inventions for a New Era:
On June 7th, 1912, Col. Isaac Lewis brought his machine gun to College Park to test it from an aeroplane. The gun has been designed to have low recoil, so he believed it would be effective in flight. After achieving excellent success in hitting targets, both the newspapers and the Signal Corps reflected on the guns possible contribution to aerial combat and military strategy. However, the War Department issued a statement saying that aeroplanes were only suitable for reconnaissance purposes!
After rejecting the gun, reportedly because the Army already had an official machine gun (Beret-Mercier), Lewis moved to England where the US had to purchase the guns upon entering WWI. |