Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-02-26
House Group
Spurs RS-7O
Bomber Use

The House Armed Services
committee is insisting on
greater and faster development
Of the RS-70 manned super
sonic bomber despite Defense
Department wishes.
1t voted unanimously yester-
day to authorize $497.7 million
for two more such planes and
two additional Polaris missile
firing submarines.
BY q 31-to-5 vote the COM
mittee added this extra amount
to the administrations request
ed $3.50 billion authorization
for procurement Of missiles,
aircraft and naval vessels and
for research, development, test
and evaluation programs.
Record Authorization
The bill reported out by the
committee carries q $15,S56,
SOL 900 authorization. largest
In the history Of Congress.
Committee Chairman Vinson,
Democrat Of Georgia, said he
hoped to bring 1t up in the
House for passage next week.
The committees stand in ia
vor Of the RS-70 reconnais-
sance plane was essentially the
same as 1t took a year ago in
a controversy with Defense
Secretary Mcnamara. Unlike
the 1862 authorization bill.
however, the present measure
contained no language seeking
TO direct" the Defense Depart
ment to accelerate and expand
work on the RS-70.
Chairman Vinson neverthe-
less made clear in q separate
statement that he and his col
leagues are determined to do
all they can to make the De-
Tense Department accept the
committees views on manned
bombers.
Cites Shift in Emphasis
1T Is q deep and abiding be-
lief Of the Armed Services Com
mittee that manned systems
should continue to be q major
part of our military force" Mr..
Vinson said. There is no
doubt that our missiles. par
ticularly our intercontinental
ballistic missiles, are q major
part Of our arsenal. Neither I
nor the committee members
would for q moment think of
minimizing their Importance or
cutting back on the missile
program.
But the committee sees a
growing tendency on the part
Of the Department Of Defense
to place more and more en-
phasis on missiles and less and
less on manned systems. This is
O dangerous course and one
which the committee intends to
do everything in its power TO
stop"
Calls for 5 Planes
Mr.. vinson noted that the
Defense Department currently
.envisions" q program Of three
RS-70 planes to determine
whether they can fly at 1000
miles an hour and meet other
requirements. The committees
bill today would call for five
planes.
For the three airplanes al
ready authorized we will have
spent about $1.3 billion" Mr..
Vinson continued. What will
we have for this investment?
We will have so little that,
while it might be an exaggera-
ton to say the $1.3 billion is
wasted, we certainly will not be
getting q good return on this
Investment. The addition of two
more RS-70s would constitute a
major step toward an airplane
with most of the characteristics
and capabilities of a true COM
bat plane. With this in mind
the committee added $363.7 mil
lion to the Air Force portion Of
the bill as an additional step
toward the achievement Of some
real fighting capability in the
RS-70."
The additional $134 million
Tor the nuclear-powered attack
submarines would provide for
eight instead Of six as recon-
mended by the Defense Depart
inent. This would make a total
of Al Polaris submarines. each
capable Of firing is missiles,
Mr.. Vinson said. He added that
the Navy requested the two adj
ditional submarines but vas
pverruled by Secretary Nc
Namara.