Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-05-03
Guided Missile Could
Put Air Force Planes
In Obsolete Class
Army Report on Progress
On 1900 Pound Bomb
Seen Soothing to Navy
By David Laurence

NdlIlCy w AGSE6i Silhb eiir hA
Force will have ready within a
year q 12.000-pound bomb that
can be guided all the way to the
target. He says also that Ameri-
can research engineers have made
great progress" recently toward
development of devices to guide
missiles with speeds up to 700
miles an hour and with ranges of
5000 miles.
This is soothing news for the
Navy folks who may be feeling
depressed about the cancellation
Of their super carrier. For 1t could
mean the cancellation of the
super-bomber of the Air Force as
Obsolete" too, within a short
while.
It raises the question as to
whether the Air Force should be
permitted to spend billions of dol
lars for bombers that are not 60
ing to be used and, indeed,
whether the airplane itself isn't
on the way out.
II the Secretary Of Defense.
Louis johnson, hasn't yet drafted
consolidation directive number
Ave" he might logically be writ
ing it. For the passion to con-
centrate everything In one place
here finds ready outlet In the
matter of guided missiles.
Isn't This Duplication?
Today guided missiles are being
developed by the Army, by the
Navy. and by the Air Force. Isn't
this Overlapping" and "duplica-
ton? Why shouldn't new
branch Of the Armed Services be
created with status equal to the
Army. the Navy and the Air
Force? Why shouldn't the Guided
Missile Force come into being with
. general to represent it on the
Joint Chiefs Of Staff?
The thinking heretofore at the
Pentagon Building has been that
ali weapons of one class belong in
one service and that it is a mis-
take to allow the Navy to develop
any airplanes to be launched from
the decks of ships. The argument
has been that all airplanes should
be in one service.
Certainly the field artillery have
. real claim now. Guided missiles
are more like artillery than any
other weapon. Logically, the
guided missiles could form q new
service that would include all
guns that shoot into the air. Pres
ident Truman. as an ex-artillery-
man, can appreciate how long ne
elected the field artillery has been
and what its claims now are for
control Of all guided missiles. A
good case can be made for the
Guided Missile Force as separate
entity detached from the Army.
Four Services Possible.
1t is true that this would make
four separate services but that's
what unification has brought any
way. There used to be only two
services and now there are three.
Since the chief reason for a sep
arate air force was that it had
new weapon, there seems to be
logic in the idea of a separate
force to handle guided missiles.
There, Of course. has been talk Of
. separate service to take care Of
submarines but this is in its in
cipient stages as yet. Some day
when submarines are able to come
to the surface and launch air.
planes and guided missiles, there
will be debate as to which Of the
existing services shall have the
honor of annexing the subma-
riners. But that's in the future.
Meanwhile. the Congress Is
spending considerable sums on
guided missiles. In a sense. this
is. a mistake. The new doctrine
enunciated by the recent order
canceling the Nays research and
development of a new carrier ap-
parently is that there must be no
new weapons introduced unless
the Air Force agrees to it in adj
vance. The guided missile appro-
priations amount to. many hun
dreds of millions of dollars.
Plainly the whole guided missile |
program should be reviewed and
re-examined because it may we'll |
be that 1t is unwise to spend so |
much on super-bombers for long
range strategic bombing or any,
thing else when--to follow the
argument against the Nays car
rier-another five years may see
the present weapons obsolete
altogether.
tReproduction Rishts Reseryed)
nVERTVSEMENT