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Major Changes In Royal Air Force

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

'Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, April 29.

The Air and Navy Estimates, following the White Paper on defence, explain more fully how the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy will better fit themselves into the new defence structure based on Britain’s determination to maintain a “deterrent”—hydrogen bomb—and thus hope to avoid future war.

The main emphasis favours the R.A.F. The Navy is to take a somewhat secondary role. Naval chiefs of staff from nine Commonwealth countries will hear something about it when they attend the Commonwealth naval conference at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, this week. As far as developments in the

air are concerned, it seems that manned V bombers and fighters will continue to be needed for many years to come and the force of V bombers will be built up steadily. Until long-range ballistic rockets are developed and made available by the United States the V bomber will remain the teeth of Britain’s defence

force. Britain’s hydrogen bomb will be delivered by these bombers until they are superseded by the 1000 miles an hour ballistic missile with a range of 2000 miles and rising as high as 500 miles above the earth. Britain’s air defence will be based on the de Havilland fighterborne guided rocket named Firestreak and the Bristol ground-to-air anti-aircraft weapon named Bloodhound. The Firestreak will rely on an infra-red or heatseeking device to lead it to its target. The ground-to-air weapon, in the later stages of its flight, will “home” on radar echoes or pulses sent out from a powerful transmitter on the ground. Both .will be operated by the R.A.F. Men have been learning to assemble, test and fire experimental models for well over a year. “Stand Off” Bombing The Air Ministry ,plans to reduce progressively the vulnerability of V bombers to enemy anti-aircraft action by the introduction of “stand off” bombing techniques. These rely on powered guided bombs that can be launched from the bomber some distance from the target. Bombs of this sort could be designed to carry nuclear weapons of great power. Since guidance would be built in and self-suffi-cient, tney would be immune to any enemy counter-measures. Air correspondents, welcoming this new blueprint of how Britain is moving into the age of pushbutton warfare, say the guided bomb should go a long way to make up for the services’ lack of supersonic bombers and longrange ballistic missiles. It i« un-

likely that V bombers could get close enoug . to a well-defended target to drop their bombs in the conventional way—guided antiaircraft missiles would probably get the better of them—so it was a natural compromise to provide bombers with rockets which would carry the bomb and which could be fired at the target from outside the range of hostile defensive anti-aircraft missiles.

The Air Ministry’s estimates and official explanations make it clear that Britain’s missile airforce is much nearer than has previously been thought. Not only

are acceptance trials of the Firestreak imminent, but the construction of an R.A.F. station for the Bloodhound is well under way and should be ready next year.

Additionally a so far unnamed English Electric ground-to-air anti-aircraft guided missile and the Armstrong-Whitworth shipborne Seeslug missile are both rapidly approaching the production stage. The main change in the Navy is that it is to be replanned and streamlined into task forces grouped round carriers. The Navy, unlike the R.A.F. will have no long-range offensive weapon beyond the comparatively small Blackburn strike aircraft. Nor is there any provision for ships other than four escort vessels to be equipped in the near future with defensive guided weapons.

Cost of Hansard.—The Stationery Office reported an estimated loss of £60,000 on Hansard for the financial year which ended last month. More than 10,000 copies are printed every day, only 5100 copies of which are sold to the public. There is a daily free distribution of 4925 to members of Parliament, peers and Government departments.—London, April 29. y

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19570430.2.108

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28264, 30 April 1957, Page 13

Word count
Tapeke kupu
665

Major Changes In Royal Air Force Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28264, 30 April 1957, Page 13

Major Changes In Royal Air Force Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28264, 30 April 1957, Page 13

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