Evening star., 1949-10-07

renee of practically every senior
officer of the Navy on the active
and retired lists.
Asked for names, he mentioned
Admiral William F. Halsey, who
sat nearby; the Navy's other three
fleet admirals-Chester w. .Nimitz,
Ernest j. King and William D.
Leahy; Admirals Denfeld, chief Of
Naval Operations; w. H. P. Blan-
dy, Atlantic Fleet commander, and
Richard L. Conolly. naval COM
mander in the Eastern Atlantic
and Mediterranean area.
II could go on down the list, "
Admiral Radford said, but Mr..
Vinson said, mo, that's sufficient. !"
Tells of B-36 Procurement.
Admiral Radford. who was vice
chief of naval operations early
this year when the Air Force an
nounced it's expanded B-36 pro-
curement plans, recalled that "on
the morning of January IL, 1949,
the Chief of Naval Operations and
I did not know that the Air Force
had any plans for the B-36 other
than to cut back its procurement. !"
I'VE learned about the Air
Force plan for additional procure
ment by reading the morning
newspapers of that date" Admiral
Radford said. From conversa-
tions which I had with Mr.. For
restal (the late James v. For
restal, first Secretary Of Defense)
that morning it is my strong be-
lief that this was also the way he
learned about this major shift in
the procurement plan Of the Air
Force" s-
Thus, Admiral Radford contin-
ued, MIR. Forrestal and the Chief
of Naval Operations. the latter a
member of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, were placed lin the diff
cult and anomalous position Of
either going along with the Air
Force plans or repudiating them
after they had been announced to
the public and to the aircraft in
dustry."
Admiral Radford said the Air
Force had started buying B-36s
in quantity without the thorough
proving which should precede
large scale procurement of any
new weapon.
He said a group of the Nays
top aviation technicians would
follow him with elaboration of his
contention that the B-36 will not
do what the Air Force claims for
it. Much of this testimony prob
ably will be heard by the COM
mittee in closed session.
Air Battleship Opposed.
1--WE do not quibble over minor
differences of opinion as to the
range. altitude and speed Of the
B-36," he emphasized. 1T is an
unquestionable fact that the plane
is capable of flying long distances
With heavy loads. Indeed, this
characteristic is its only qualifica-
ton as an 'intercontinentar
bomber"
"Are we as a Nation to have
bomber generals fighting to pre-
serve the obsolete heavy bomber
the battleship Of the air?" Admiral
Radford asked, then answered:
Like its surface counterpart, its
day is largely passed"
Admiral Radford, in reply to
questions. said Navy aviators had
never been permitted to fly the
B-36. He said also that the
weapons evaluation group has not
yet passed on the big bomber.
Admiral Rarford said that there
had been a very valuable ex-
change of flyers between the
services, but that Navy flyers "have
not been allowed" to pilot the
B-36.
Pleads For Evaluation.
On the question Of evaluation,
Admiral Radford said the pro-
cedure is supposed to evaluate the
big planes performance in doing
the job it is supposed to do.
ITO deliver atomic bombs on a
distant target?" Representative
Brooks, Democrat, of Louisiana,
asked.
EYES," Admiral Radford replied.
"I am pleading for an evaluation
and it has not been given to us. .
Mr.. Vinson asked Admiral Rad
ford II it were not true that the
Navy was given opportunity to
explain its needs in defense bud
| get planning sessions and other
IN nAnAF