They document early developments in the history of motorised transport, such as motorboat racing, motorcycle and motor car racing, zeppelins and biplanes.
The aircraft was powered by a single Maybach Mb.IVa water-cooled inline-engine providing 305 hp (228 kW), an engine type usually used to power Zeppelins or R-planes (Riesenflugzeuge like the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI), received as part of Germany's reparations to Japan after the end of the First World War.
It was a complete redesign of the Maschinengewehr 08 machine gun (itself an adaptation of the Maxim gun) system intended for use on aircraft and zeppelins that used a toggle action that broke upwards rather than downwards opposite the MG 08, making for a much more compact receiver.
The lunarium is dropped in the form of bombs from a fleet of zeppelins flying at a higher altitude than anti-aircraft guns could possibly reach.
During 1915 attempts were made to use Schneiders to intercept Zeppelins over the North Sea, launching them from seaplane carriers including HMS Ben-my-Chree and Engadine, but these were largely unsuccessful, due to heavy seas either making take-off impossible or damaging the floats.