Evening star., 1940-09-15
Army
Contracts Awarded;
More Due Daily
Loo in Defense Work
Believed Eliminated;
PIone Orders Sped
BY FRED H. MORHART, Jr.

Army contract awards totallng
nearly s242000 900 yesterday made
it increasingly evident that rearm-
ament program delays rapidly are
being eliminated and that announce
ment of large numbers of new con-
tracts may be expected almost daily.
Until recently lag in the general
program had been caused by work
of perfecting the organization of the
National Defense Commission as a
clearing house for orders. by pro-
curement competition among Gov
ernment departments and by re-
luctance of industry to accept orders
without reassurances as to taxes,
aids to plant expansions and pro-
visions for amortizatio of extra
costs
OF particular interest to the avia-
tion and automotive industries yes
terday was the conclusion of con-
tract with the Packard Motor Car
Co., Detroit. for the manufacture of
the Rolls-Royce airplane engine used
by the British. The company agreed
after considerable negotiation to fill
a s62,448,000 order.
Production Under License.
The number of engines ordered was
not disclosed, but William Knudsen
of the Defense Commission had an
nounced previously that Packard was
preparing to produce 5000 Rolls
Royce engines for the United States
Government and 5000 for the Brit
ish. NJ NJ Gilman. Packard presi-
dent. said on July that his plant
would be fooled up and prepared to
begin actual production 10 months
from the date Of the contract.
The production arrangement was
made under license from the British
holder of the patents. In many re-
spects. the Rolls Royce engine is
unlike its American, liquid cooled
companion. Whereas the British
build complete unit as an engine,
1t was reported, the American sys-
tenn calls for separate construction
of the main engine block" with
later additions of parts.
SSAAiPo w 81 iilVo -
new field was General Motors Corp,
which agreed to build machine guns
in subsidiary plants. The mass pro-
duction of the guns will cost $751;
398,872. according to the War De-
partment contract placed yesterday
Four Plants to Be fooled.
OF the total, SCI, ,398,872 was
awarded for turning out machine
guns at fixed prices. The remaining
$50 900 900 is the cost of equipment
to be installed in company build
ings Title to the equipment will re-
main with the Government, as in
the case of several other large con-
tracts signed for production of
powder and tanks.
1t was said the four plants should
be fooled for production in about
Is months. They are the A. C. spark
plug division. Flint, Mich; Saginaw
steering gear division, Saginaw,
Mich; Frigidaire division. Dayton.
Ohio, and guide lamp division, Syra-
cuse, N. Y.
The contract provides for a re-
duction in the price of the machine
guns If the corporation lis able to
reduce costs further as a result of
economies made possible by guam
tity production methods" the an
nouncement stated.
Plane Contracts Awarded.
Another large sum Of money also
was assigned yesterday to two air
craft companies for the production
of pursuit planes. The Bell Air
craft Corp. Buffalo, received sl9,-
896,668 contract to produce its
famous "Airacobra," a heavily
armed interceptor fighter. The Re-
public Aviation Corp, Farmingdale,
Long Island, N Y, got $50, ,499 ,924,
part of which was from 1910 ap-
propriations.
Awards have been made for 3,758
of the 4,247 planes authorized. of
which 225 are in the Republic con-
tract announced yesterday. The
number of planes was not an
nounced, but some estimates were
that several thousand now are un-
der construction or under contract
for the Army.
The "Airacobra" is a new depar-
ture in plane design, in that the
motor is behind the pilot. A 37-mm.
cannon is fired through the crank
shaft and located in the wings are
nests of 80 and so caliber machine
guns. The plane is powered with a
liquid-cooled Allison engine. AL
though its speed has been kept
secret, observers are sure the plane
makes more than 400 miles an hour.
Block Largest Signed Yet.
The block Of orders was the larg-
est signed since the beginning Of