Evening star., 1952-06-22
The Army and Air Defense

In his testimony the other day before a
Senate Appropriations subcommittee, General 7
Lawton Collins placed emphasis on a fact that
Is not generally realized. The fact is this: That
the Army is playing a role of vital Importance
In carrying out the recent order for sharp in
tensification of the Nations defenses against
air attack.
Such defenses, in the minds of many Ameri-
cans are visualized as being almost exclusively
the responsibility of the Air Force In the popular
view, they also have been oversimplified into a
system of radar warnings and around the clock
vigilance by specially organized units of inter-
ceptor planes. Actually, however, as General
Collins has made clear in his capacity as Army
Chief of Staff they involve considerably more
than that, not the least important of their ele-
ments being ground action.
In fact, as General Collins has testified.
ground fire is one of the most effective defenses
against air attack. During the Second World War.
Tor example, we lost many more" fighters and
bombers to the enemys land-based guns than
to the enemy's planes. Similarly, such guns have
accounted for 81 per cent of all the United Ma
tions aircraft that have been destroyed thus far
in combat with the Communists in Korea-a sta
tlstic that dramatically demonstrates why the
Army, though earthbound must nevertheless deal
actively with the sky.
. Accordingly, one of the Armys major mis-
sions today is to build up its frepower to cope
with aerial attacks on the continental United
States and on our troops and bases overseas. To
that end, 1t has deployed its anti-aircraft units
around key atomic plants, strategic industrial
centers and vital military installations at home
and abroad. At the same time, for the same de-
fensive purposes, 1t has been equipping itself
with special weapons of various kinds some of
them highly advanced and others still in the
development stage.
These weapons include radar-controlled
"Skysweeper" guns and supersonic guided mis-
siles and free rockets. According to General COL
Inns, the progress we have made with one of the
guided missies-the NIKE-"is most encouraging
and we have already achieved hits on maneuver-
ing drone aircraft at great ranges and attitudes"
Indeed, given things like the NIKE in sufficient
quantity the Army should be able in time to es-
tablish a genuinely formidable ground defense
against aerial assault.
As Of today however, 1t would be foolhardy
to imagine that such defense exists True
enough, since the outbreak of the Korean war,
the Army has increased the numbers of its active
anti-aircraft battalions from 48 to ITO, but the
increase as. General Collins has pointed out, is
still far short Of wartime requirements or what
is needed in this extremely dangerous period when
ground firepower-together with other deterrents
against aerial attack-ought to be stepped up as
fast as possible in proportion to the threat con-
fronting the Nation
That threat is too big and real to be countered
with half measures. Along with other members
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Collins has
done well to warn the Senate against supporting
the spending ceiling and budget cuts that the
House has imposed on the armed forces for fiscal
1858. The Army,s role in air defense is only one
of the things involved, but it is crucial enough
to illustrate how such "economizing' lii finally
enacted-could add up to folly Of the most reck-
less kind.