Evening star., 1940-05-12
Allies Still No Match
For Germany in Air
Despite U. 5. Aid
Reich Believed to Have
10000 PIones Against
Foes 5000
BY DEVON FRANCIS,
Associated. Press Stan Writer.

NEW YORK, May 1.-Two
thousand American warplanes-
only half of them Of 4 strictly com.
bat type-have been thrown into
the balance by the allies In the
suddenly intensified struggle for
dominance in the air, but Ger
many's numerical superiority prom
ises to go unchallenged for months
to come.
If the losses reported In the fight
ing for possession of the Low Coun-
tries-upward Of 500 planes in two
days for both sides-become a
standard rate of depletion, the allies
situation in. the air may we'll be-
come critical.
From q dozen different authori-
tative sources comes an estimate
that the Reich, grimly counting on
air power to turn the tide of battle,
has no fewer than 10000 warplanes
on hand, most Of them for FIRST
line" service.
Allies Have Only 5000.
Against that number the allies
probably can muster no more than
5000 planes, including the modest
additions of the Dutch and Belgian
air forces, and only half Of them
are available for bombing and fight
ing forays.
OF the 1900 American planes de-
livered to France and England i'm
mediately preceding and since the
outbreak Of the war, 1000 were
trainers. assigned to bolstering their
pilot manpower.
The combat types were so dive
bombers, 800 pursuits and $50 BIZ
motored medium bombers.
Orders are streaming into Ameri-
can factories from London and Paris
now for great quantities of planes,
but it will be late summer or early
fall before the allies begin to feel
the full force of American pre-
ductiveness. In all, the French and
English have ordered $500 planes
since the spring Of 1899.
Requirements Vital Factor.
Allied inferiority to Germany in
the air-conceded this week by both
Neville Chamberlain and Winston
Churchill, the outgoing and incom-
ing prime ministers-is not so much
a matter Of airplanes on halid as
1t Is OF the ability to replace these
lost in combat.
One American manufacturer. who
surveyed British and French factory
production last year, estimated that
the allies could match the German
warplane output only with the ad-
dition of American planes con.
tracted for in bulk.
A confidential report received
here yesterday put the French war
plane output at a bare $50 planes
month. The British output is
possibly as high as 1000 a month,
including training planes. For pur-
poses OF replacement the German
output is much greater.
Germany Strong In Bombers.
For the current fighting over the
low countries Germany is reported
to have twice as many bombing
planes as the allies. More than
eight months Of fighting has DEM
onstrated that the bomber is the
most essential adjunct of an air
force. Bombers are the "long range
artillery" of the air.
The speculation surrounding
American warplaHe production is
dispelled somewhat by the figures
for last year. In all, $500 planes
were turned out. Three thousand
were so-called sport planes. The
remainder covered transports, ex-
port planes of all types, and war
planes.
Conservative manufacturers es-
innate that, at the outside, Ameri-
can factories can produce 5000 to
10000 warplanes in 1940-including
trainers. If the bitter fighting
with consequent heavy losses con-
tinues, the prospects for the allies
coping with German air power on
even terms before the end of the
year are not very encouraging.