Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-02-04

QuarIesCites
Fantastic Might
OF New Bombs
Plane Con Deliver
Blow Greater Than
Entire War II Fleet

Entire War II Fleet
A single guided missile. or
even a small fighter-bomber, can
deliver on a target "aS much des-
tructive force as all the World
War II bombers combined" Air
Force Secretary Quarles said to-
day.
In a talk prepared for the Air
Force Associations "Jet Age
Conference" in the Sheraton
Park Hotel. he did not speclfi-
cally go into hydrogen bomb ca
pacities, but declared:
THE Air Force has immensely
more fire power and global capa-
city" than it has even known be-
fore.
II do not believe that we will
ever again have to employ our
air power and weapons as we
did in Korea" Mr.. Quarles said.
IF we are again forced into
armed combat we will use the
weapons most appropriate to
targets and missions.
1T must be clear to any ag-
gresSor that he can expect to
be opposed with the kind of
weapons necessary to make his
aggression both painful and I'M
profitable"
'Buildup' Unlikely
Quarles said the United States
must accept the possibility of a
sudden. direct attack. and can
not expect a World War II type
buildup."
Ocean-hopping jet airliners
may make almost all American
airport runways obsolete. accord
ing to Civil Aeronautics Admin
istrator Charles J. Lowen, an
other speaker. The only excep-
ton, he said, might be Boston
with its 10.000-foot runway.
1T seems fairly clear that
while our major airports will be
able to handle domestic jet oper-
atoms, they may run into trou-
bic when it comes to intercon-
tinental flights he asserted, in
q prepared talk.
The question Of whether air.
port runways can be extended
sufficiently to accommodate the
long-range jet airliners also was
raised by several other persons
today.
T. P. Wright. head of the Aero
nautical Laboratory at Cornell
University and former admins
traitor Of the Civil Aeronautics
Administration, suggested that
the operational problem might
be solved by developing aircraft
which will take of and land at
sleeper angles.
Gen. James H. Doolittle. past
president of AFA, said a great
deal Of thought is being given to
take of and landing runs. He
said 1t is quite possible that
more thought should be devoted
to spending money for the i'm
proved performance of airplanes.
"A Bit Shocked"
Gen. Doolittle added that he
was "a bit shocked" by the state
ment of one speaker that the
huge Idlewild Airport in New
York probably could not accom-
modate er-continental jet air.
liners.
If Idlewild is not big enuosh. I"
he said, Il don't know where we
will build airports."
Several speakers stressed the
need for constant attention to
operational safety. A modernized
and uniform traffic-control sys-
tenn was urged both by Maj. Gen.
<. P. Bergquist, Air Force director
of operations. and jerome Le-
derer, managing director OF
Flight Safety Foundation. Inc.
Air Force generals told the
American people yesterday that
they may have to accept some
Inconvenience, disrupting noise
and even some hazards from
planes in the jet-age future, for
the sake Of national security.
At the same time, the high
ranking officers assured the pub
lie that an accidental defamation
of a nuclear bomb is all but
impossible. They said. too. that
when nuclear engines for air.
planes are in operation they
viii be no more dangerous than
the conventional kinds.
No Major Problem
The handling of aircraft nu-
clear weapons lis not and will not
be a major problem" Gen. Nath-
an F. Twining, Air Force Chief
of Staff, told the conference.
His comment seemed to come
as an assurance after Gen. Earle
E. Partridge, commander of the
Continental Air Defense Com
mand. had declared that nuclear
weapons soon will be stored at
major Air Force installations and
will be carried by planes in
flight" This has been a we'll
founded assumption, even among
laymen. but Gen. Partridge was
the first top official to say 1t for
public consumption.