Evening star., 1946-10-04
Army Porodes Newest Weapons Before 5000
To Accompurinent Of W Rockets Wall
Disploy at Aberdeen
Features Moteriel
Developed Since War
By Rudolph Kouffmonn II
s,or s.aff Correspondent

Y 4
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, |
Md, Oct. 4.-The program started
with q recording It was feeble |
compared to some OF the loud noises
that were to follow, but the record
ing remained the most impressive
display put on by the United States
Army's ordnance experts at the 28th
annual meeting Of the Army Ord
nance Association here yesterday.
The association is q coalition Of
military skin, scientific brains and
| industrial know-how, pledged to-
keep America prepared against sud-
den attack.
Throughout show OF loud booms
and miraculous demonstrations OF
mobility and firepower In which
some weapons and vehicles made
their first bow before the public, the
recording remained a dominant
overtone In the minds Of the more
than 5000 guests and association
members who watched the show.
Wall Of va Rocket.
It was a recording OF the effect
produced during the flight of Ger
man W. rocket, It produced weird
moaning which rose in pitch as the
missile picked up speed. 1t rose to
high wall as the W. reached top
speed, then fell as 1t glided on up
into space.
A moment Of silence, the an
nouncer said, indicated the rocket
had reached maximum altitude and
was starting to fall. Then the wall
again-like q distant siren-rising
again as gravity took hold. It was
falling tail first, he said, then nos
ing over and slowing down as it en-
tered the earth's shell of atmos-
phere. After that there was silence.
The explosion itself had not been
recorded.
The stands, too, were silent. I'VE
call that the Song Of the V-2' or
the Whistle of the Missile" the
announcer, Col. Leslie e. Simon, di-
rector Of ballistic research labora-
tories at the proving ground. con-
cluded loosely.
Questions Are Provoked.
But 1t seemed q wry joke when
you thought that you couldn't hear
a W. until it hit or maybe never
would hear 1t at all.
It seemed that way because of the
obvious questions posed inexorably
by the high-pitched wall of the
doppler recording:
How much better are the Army's
secret guided missiles? Would they
ever be used? Loaded with what?
1t may be that many onlookerS
drew solace from the military adage
that an offense breeds its own de-
fense and hoped that somewhere in
the array of tanks, guns, vehicles
and projectiles which were to be pa
raded before the stands for the next
four hours the monster which pro-
duced the eerie vail already had
spawned the seeds of its own de-
struction.
Yariety Of Weapons Shown. I
At any ratc. 4 chorus OF "oll's" and
"ah,s" greeted the tanks, guns, NOR
tars, howitxefs. small I-caliber rock
cts and other weapons with which
the Army won the European war.
iplus some which are improved.
models of World War II weapons
and still others making their first
public appearance.
Other highlights of the day were:
Little David" 914- millimeter
mortar, the largest ever built.
The MA armored personnel car
rier, which can spew forth two
dozen fully armed infantrymen
after protecting them effectively
from sniper fire on the way to their
objective.
The Locust" tiny tank which
can be carried by a plane much as
q hawk carries a mouse and used to
lend additional punch to paratroop
attacks.
100-Ton Tank Displayed.
The T28 tank, which weighs 100
tons and was designed to crack
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