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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0098.PDF
98 SUPPLY OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT . . . The report concludes: "Your Committee feel it necessary tomake two points quite clear. First, although they have drawn attention to certain weaknesses in the machinery of supply, itwould not be fair to those concerned to give the impression that a great deal had not been achieved. On the contrary, we haveproduced some of the finest aircraft in the world, together with engines and various electronic devices. Secondly, while they areof opinion that the system of control of projects has not always worked well, still needs overhaul and opens a field for substantialeconomies, the saving by reducing the number of Service types of aircraft can be only a small fraction of the total expenditureunder this heading. "The programme for the supply of military aircraft has beenan ambitious and expensive one. In some ways it has been shown to be over-ambitious. Your Committee are convincedthat it is essential for all future projects to be scrutinized much more carefully than before to ensure that onry the most essentialare carried out. Failure to do this may well place the whole programme in jeopardy." The conclusions and recommendations of the Committee aresummarized as follows:— Conclusions (1) Although understandable in the economic circumstances ofthe time, the money spent on developing aircraft which were unsuccessful in competition, and which therefore never went intoproduction, seems excessive, and the system itself one which should not be resorted to in other fields, such as missiles orequipment, without its objectionable features being fully taken into account. (2) Insufficient care has been shown in limiting the number of helicopter research projects. (3) Although the Supermarine Swift fighter has been a failure,the decision to order it was to a large extent inevitable. Never- theless, it is not certain that adequate and speedy steps weretaken to face up to the consequences of the Swift's failure and to reduce the number of aircraft on order once it became clear thatits performance was not proceeding according to plan. (4) In the particular circumstances surrounding the Victor andVulcan V-bombers, the decision to proceed with the development and production of both was the correct one. So far as can bedetermined, it does not seem to have led to a waste of public money. Recommendations (1) The Ministry of Supply should make more effort to obtaina contribution to research and development projects from the firm awarded the contract, and should seriously consider the proposalthat this might be fixed at 20 per cent of the estimated cost, to '• •••'•. FLIGHT be returned if the project went into production or was favourably reported on by the Ministry of Supply. (2) The system of control to ensure that research projects are not continued after they have outlived their usefulness should be reviewed. (3) The present military aircraft programme should be critically examined with a view to ensuring that the number of projects is the absolute minimum consistent with security. (4) There should be a review of the effectiveness of the Minis- try of Defence's control of projects. (5) The Ministry of Supply should pay more attention to the cost and effect on the aircraft industry's resources of a project originating either from a Service Department or one of their own research establishments. (6) Aircraft manufacturers should have the earliest and fullest access to information about equipment to be fitted in the aircraft they manufacture and the "Service Fit" system should be reviewed to see if it is really necessary. (7) The Service Departments should consider the possibility of accepting delivery of a certain number of earlier versions of an aircraft, even though these may not fulfil completely the operational requirement, and use them pending production of later modified marks. (8) Officers appointed to the post of Controller of Aircraft and other posts connected with the ordering of aircraft at the Minis- try of Supply should have longer tours of duty than at present, and every effort should be made to appoint officers with technical qualifications. (9) Investigations should be carried out to ascertain and com- pare the length of time taken to develop a military aircraft in the U.K. and the U.S.A. (10) Steps should be taken, preferably with the agreement of the industry, to limit the number of firms receiving Govern- ment contracts for the manufacture of airframes and aero-engines. (11) The Ministry of Supply should use the method of selec-tive allocation of contracts to bring about the measure of coalescence in the aircraft industry which they agreed wasdesirable. (12) A review should take place of the accounting arrange-ments of the contracts department of the Ministry of Supply to enable them to obtain accurate and up-to-date figures, year byyear, of the profits made by firms from contracts awarded by the Ministry of Supply for both the research and developmentand production of military aircraft. (13) The Ministry of Supply should investigate the possibilityof abuses arising from contract draughting and should ensure that the technical costs department of the Ministry have sufficientdata to enable them to carry out their functions in checking the costs of firms properly. THE R.Aux.A.F. and R.N.V.R. DISBANDMENT Abriefly indicated in these columns last week, the major partof the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and the entire air branchof the R.N.V.R. is now being disbanded. Operational training ceased on January 10 and the administrative processes ofdisbandment will be complete by March 10. Thus ends what may yet prove to be just the first phase in the history of Britain'sterritorial air arm. A list of the disbanded and retained units appears on page 125.There are many who consider it unwise to dispense with the fighter squadrons of the R.Aux.A.F. But it is clear that, in theirpresent form, these units cannot continue to contribute effectively and worthily to the country's defence. Military aircraft are becom-ing increasingly expensive both in first cost and operating cost, and it is certain that the tendency will be to reduce their numbersin peace-time air forces. The question of whether the remaining fighter aircraft should be operated by Regulars or by Regularand Auxiliary pilots has now had to be decided; and the choice has reasonably and rightly fallen to the Regulars. There has beenno effort to discriminate against the Auxiliaries and no question of animosity or ill-feeling. The final decision was taken with thegreatest regret. There is, furthermore, no question of the Auxiliary pilots' notbeing able to handle fighters at present coming into service or soon expected; and no qualified person has yet said that suchmight be the case. Arguments of this kind are not new; they were put forward even before the R.Aux.A.F. was first founded in the1920s. Each re-equipment has been greeted with similar doubts. Yet many Auxiliary pilots have flown the Hunter successfully andfound no difficulty in doing so. But the fact must be faced that there is no point in continuingvoluntary training which is, after all, not without its risks, when the Meteors and Vampires in which this training is carried out offer no answer to the air-attack threat which Britain might expect. For the pilots themselves there would be no real reward and no one would ask them to continue their work in a lost cause. But any reasoned proposal for another way of using the magnificent voluntary spirit would doubtless be seriously considered. After being told of the disbandment order, the Auxiliaries themselves, not unexpectedly, immediately took action to bring their plight to public notice. Very soon the opinions were pub- lished of many people weil qualified to speak. Towards the end of last week a concrete proposal was being formulated by the Auxiliary squadrons m the London area, whereby they could continue to contribute to the country's defence with modern fighters, and retain at least the bare essentials of their corporate existence and connection with their parent city and counties. The basis of the proposal was expected to be that the squadrons would base themselves at their respective town headquarters and u™AentIT ufe toeir adnunistrative offices. Working from these ^eandnfa«e" *«y would offer to provide pilots and ground crews to operate the day fighters of the regular squadrons during week- ends at any airfield within striking range of the headquarters. iW,aa- fh,°n ^uad^n would offer to provide pilots at one of w£ i f Kef 3Se • ln the home counties. It would be easy to extra 'tiff H^SeHStatTS might,be kept °Pen at week-ends, Jin*extra staff drafted in after the closure of airfields which have u Ptill now been operated mainly for Auxiliary squadrons By developing this scheme it might be possible to orovide af^yCage0deffnSive d*y ^"SL?£S£ri£afth^rnyesCwheagth R effnSive d*y SL?£S£ri£ at the times when the Regulars have their week-end A scheme onthese lmes is already operated by the U.SAF in AmerkT the reserve pilots of the Air National Guard taking over theTperation
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