Six Thousand Miles An Hour!

Chronicle (Levin), 4 June 1949, Page 5

Six Thousand Miles An Hour!

(N.Z.P.A.—

-Reuter,

Copyright)

Received Friday, 7.30 p.m. WASHINGTON, June 2. The United States Armed Services had planes which flew ( faster than 1000 miles an hour, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson ( Democrat, Texas) told the Senate Armed Services Committee Liday. ^Ir. .Johnson said his statements were based on testimony irom scientists and military leaders during hearings on legislation hol'ore the sub-eommittee whieh he heads. The Armed Services Committee today unanimously approved a Bill to authorise a 311.000,000-dollar supersonic wind tunnel construction programme for testing planes and missiles at speeds ranging from 6§0 to 6000 miles an hour. Under the' bill 50,000,000 •iollars would be spent in the fiseal year 1950 from the 300,000,000dollar contingeney fund already in the Budget. The Bill provided i'or the establishment of a huge air engineering-development eentre and 20 wind tunnels. Senator Johnson, in his statement, said that some witnesses had intormed his sub-eommittee that they believed tha't within six nr seven years £AYe won't have any pilots in our planes." Ile-said 1lie armed services were planning to test guided missiles that wolild travel at 6000 miles an hour. The wind tunnel construction programme was needed immediate-ly because of the revolutionary '•lianges indueed by jet-propulsion. Mr. Louis Johnson (Secretary of Defence) told the committee 1 1 1 a t the world is on the' verge of supersonic flight. £S'cientists tell us the way is open to this or any other nations to develop supersonic weapons if it is willing to spend the money on researeh." He added that Germany under Iiitler was far ahead of the United States in this respect. Mr. Johnson estimated that the Government might spend 100,000,000,000 dollars for aireraft in "an other war" compared with the 65,000,000,000 dollars outlay in the Second World War,