Evening star., 1952-01-11
pentagon Says Delay
In Production Of JETS
And Tanks Is Serious
Bv John A Giles


Serious delays in the production
Of essential weapons, such as jet
| fighters and tanks, were reported
by the Defense Department today.
A spokesman made the statement
in an attempt to clarity what the
department regarded as some
over-optimistic press interpreta-
ltions Of what Defense Secretary
Lovett told the Senate Armed
Services Committee yesterday.
In p hour secret session Mr.
Lovett was understood by the
chairman. Senator Russell. Demo-
crat, of Georgia to have conceded
some lags" in vital weapons pro-
duction.
Later at the Pentagon, Mr.
Lovett instructed his press Off
GERS to issue a fiat statement more
than confirming Senator Russells &
understanding"
Long Time to Catch Up"
Said the spokesman today In
quoting Mr.. Lovett:
I'VE are behind in production
schedules and it will take us a
long time to catch up"
The defense chief told the Sena-
tors that, while United States
military strength was formidable
and rising sharply. the world was
a place of extreme danger now
and extreme exertions in rearma-
ment still had to be made.
President Truman told Congress
Wednesday that Russia was pro-
ducing more war planes than the
free nations" It is unofficially
estimated here that the Soviet is
making about $4,000 planes an
nually with about $4,000 of them
combat, Of which around 70 per
cent are jet fighters.
Short on Engines.
Total production of American
planes of all types may reach
about $500 month late this year
according to Admiral Dewitt C
Ramsey (retired). president of the
Aircraft Industries Association
This would be at the rate of $4,000
Ia year.
Industry leaders say the pri-
mary reason for tagging produc-
tion has been shortage of en-
lgines and component parts traced
to scarcities of machine tools and
alloy metals needed in the manu-
Ifacture of jet engines.
In it's production of an undis-
closed number of light, medium
and heavy tanks, the Army has
run into trouble with the tai
light. 1T had accepted, up to a
month ago. about one third of the
lights which had been completed
but officers said that in event ot
an all-out war those that had beer
rejected could be pressed into serv-
ice. The two-thirds were held
back until changes could be made
in the mechanism which turns the
turret.
Reversal on Tanks.
The Army's move into the heavy
tank field appeared to be a COM
plete reversal of policy which ex-
listed as recently as a year ago
and caused some speculation as to
why it was changed. A year age
high officers, from Gen. ]. Lawton
Collins. chief of staff, on down
the line, said experiments with a
heavy tank prototype would con-
tinue. But at the same time they
said that they would not spend
money on heavies simply because
some other nation had them.
This referred to Russia's tank
program, including the Joseph
Stain III, which weighs So tons
or more.
Pilot Model Completed.
While the Army will not dis
close any details about its new
heavy. indications are that it runs
close to go tons. The first pilot
model was completed at the
Newark Del.) Chrysler tank
plant last November.
Many American tank experts,
including the late Gen. George H.
Patton, have been strong advo-
Gates of medium weight tanks.
as against heavies, because of the
higher speed, better mobility and
the argument that heavy tanks
cannot operate across normal
bridges or in soft ground. But
they concede that there are few
areas in the world where they
might be useful, including the
fiat country of Western and Cen
tral EOrone