Evening star., 1949-09-18

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shortage of dollars and by the att
defense material be acquired from
with American forces remains the
The decision to build new jet
the Royal Canadian Air Force is
in line with this policy. The Cana
dian government has obtained the
right to build in Canada the North
American Aviation Co.'S jet fighter
known as the F-86 or Sabre. An
order for 100 of them has been
placed with the Canadian Co. of
Montreal.
Canada's top defense officials
have no doubt that their choice of
the F-86 was correct. They have
been criticized by some people who
wanted them to use a British
plane. But they believe the choice
Of the American plane was justi-
fed both by performance figures
and by production schedules.
Canada is buying 80 planes from
the United States to bridge the
gap till the Canadian production
line gets working.
Examples of Last War
But, whatever the secret per-
formance and output of the rival
British and American models may
be, the choice of the American air.
craft was based on more general
operational and industrial grounds.
From the operational point OF
view it seems to the Canadian de-
tense planners that Canadian and
American aircraft must be as
nearly as possible interchangeable.
II North America were subject to
air attack. it would probably be
over the northland or Alaska. The
air defense would necessarily be
joint operation of the United
States and Canada and Canada's
air force chiefs insist that the
RCAF should match" the United
States Air Force. Tactically, they
say, this is the only way they can
satisfactorily maneuver together.
Moreover, Canadian aircraft must
be able to get service, repairs and
replacements at United States air
fields and vice versa.
The industrial consideration is
even more far-reaching, because
it applies not only to the terri
torial defense Of North America
but to all defense planning for
operations anywhere in the world.
Throughout the last war Canada
was engaged In building not only
aircraft but also military weapons
Of all kinds for Britain and other
countries. Her factories were
turning out hundreds Of British
type" weapons. In the circum-
stances this was necessary but few
people realize what was involved.
Every single product had to be
re-engineered; every single blue
print had to be redrawn to adapt
it to the engineering standards of
North America. It has been seri-
ously suggested by students Of war
fare that the greatest single con-
tribution Canada made to the last
war may have been the work her
industrial engineers did In re-
drawing all the British radar
plans down to the last details. AS
a result of this remarkable piece
of work United States factories
were able to get plans they could
work on.
All this redrawing and re-engi-
neering was wasteful. but not
perhaps dangerous. But the use
Of British prototypes more than
once led very near the danger
mark.
Strategy in Production
It was never economic for the
Canadian factories to produce all
the small components for the
equipment they were making. To
build an aircraft does not mean
building every single thing that
goes into it. To try to make the
radio. the instruments, the elec-
trical equipment. the landing gear
and all the hundreds of thousands
OF tiny components in one group
Of factories would be quite uneco-
nomic. So there were always
spare parts and components COM
ing out from British factories to
go into the British-type equip
ment. And this dependence on
the long and risky transatlantic
pipeline led to some very close
shaves. Never again, If they can
help it, will Canada's defense ex-
perts allow their factories to be
dependent on that pipeline from
Britain.
In this decision they feel that
they are serving not only
Canada's narrow national in
terests. not only the cause Of the
territorial defense of North
America, but the best interests OF
the Atlantic alliance. One Of the
great contributions of North
America to the Atlanti-pact ma
tions-possibly the greatest-is its
industrial potential. The factories
Of North America, Canada as well
as the United States. are the
greatest mass-producers In the
world. They are also. If not out
of reach Of enemy bombing. at
least far less exposed to it than
any factories in Europe or Britain.
The danger Of their being over
run by invasion is virtually non
existent. Surely then. say the
Canadian planners, it would be
complete folly to throw away all
these advantages by building
production lines here which could
be Stopped by the failure Of sup
plies to arrive from Britain or
Europe.
Standardization Stressed
This attitude is not defeatist or
cynical. It does not mean that
Canada expects British produc-
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