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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0384.PDF
384 FLIGHT International, 15 March 1962 WORLD NEWS. . . chief designer, Slingsby Sailplanes, for practical achievements in the design and construction of sailplanes; Wakefield Gold Medal: Mr J. E. Clegg, Weapons Research Establishment, Salisbury, Australia; and Mr T. G. Thome, BSC, ACGI, principal scientific officer, RRE, for outstanding contributions to Doppler navigation. R. P. Alston Memorial Medal: Mr P. Howlett, flight test observer, ARB, for practical contributions to aircraft flight testing; Alan Marsh Medal: Mr C. T. D. Hosegood, chief helicopter test pilot, Bristol Division, Westland Aircraft, in recognition of his outstanding contribution as a test pilot in the British helicopter development field, with particular reference to the tandem rotor configuration. Details have also been announced of awards for papers published by the Society: these will be listed in these pages next week. It ^f/llVS^ Chain Stores This sort of photograph is far from novel, but few aircraft can carry such a variety of stores as can the Grumman A2F-I Intruder. An example is here surrounded by virtually every type of store found aboard a US carrier, with the exception of Sparrow missiles. Ahead of the wings can be seen Sidewinders (left) and Bullpups (right), and in front of the nose are shrouded nuclear weapons DEFENCE DEBATED THERE must have been much truth in the Commons debate on the Defence White Paper (writes Frank Beswick) but it would be a very self-assured student of these affairs who could claim to identify it with precision. Take first the less controversial issue of mobility. We have all been saying for years that mobility was the key to a British defence system. For the Minister of Defence this has now become "the concept of the poise," and is a proven achievement. The Joint Service Staff, he said, had troops poised for rapid use in any emergency. We "poised" at least two major operations for South-East Asia, though in the event they were not called upon. We had a strong paratroop force "poised"to fly in to Kuwait. And as RAF Transport Command now had well over 100 fixed-wing aircraft of various types on order, the "ability to poise" our forces would steadily increase. This mobility is to operate under the Joint Service Staff in the Ministry of Defence and through a concentration of forces in three main bases—Britain, Aden and Singa pore. In NATO and the Atlantic area there is no air staging problem and forces will be provided (or "poised") from Britain. In Gibraltar, Malta, North Africa and Cyprus the "fundamental change of plan" will require only facilities, stockpiles and limited garrisons. Cyprus will remain the main air base for CENTO under the command of the AOC-in-C. East of Suez the problem of staging rights is more difficult and larger forces must be held. These forces, said Mr Watkinson, "will be fully air portable, and there must be at least one, and possibly later two, modern amphibious forces in the area so that we can poise forces at sea." In view of all that has been said in the past, there would seem to be no scope for debate on this part of the Minister's case. But not so. It is all very well having unified control, a new plan of command and the increased ability to poise troops—but where are the troops? The case of Mr Gordon Walker and Mr Harold Wilson was that there were no troops, or at least inadequate numbers of troops, and the blame lay on the famous 1957 White Paper of Mr Sandys with its emphasis upon the deterrent. To Mr Wilson the "concept of poise" suggested a stage army which went off by one exit and came in at the opposite side. He wanted to know what would have happened to our Strategic Reserve if riots in British Guiana or a hurricane in British Honduras had coincided with trouble in Berlin. Mr Aubrey Jones (a former Minister of Supply) had another reservation about this new fundamental change of policy. He, too, believed it to be wrong to try to find troops for this mobile reserve at the cost of "detaching ourselves in the military sense from Europe." But he went further. "What does mobility mean?" he asked. "It means that fewer and fewer forces are now available at any one point and that to make them available in a moment of crisis there must be increased overheads behind them—aircraft, carriers, all the necessary research and development, administrative overheads and so on." Thus the overheads increased in relation to the striking power applied. In winding up, Mr George Brown made the following point: "Until we have aero planes which will move heavy equipment and large and cumbersome arms with the men, this mobility is a phantom, and moving men without them would be a dangerous and not a praiseworthy effort." Sir Arthur Vere Harvey's suggestion to meet this latter difficulty was that we should hire some heavy aircraft for two years: "There are many spare Globemasters and, if we are helping our American friends in some respects, then they should help us. Globemasters could perhaps be rented on a nominal basis." So much for mobility. No doubt all honourable and right honourable Members would agree that it is a matter of "balance." Another matter in dispute was the success of our home-produced equipment. The Minister, opening the debate, said he wished "to say a word or two to offset the usual bout of self-denigration of every British weapon as it comes through." The best test, he said, is the judgement of other nations. Mr George Wigg, who is never loth to stick his neck out, accepted this test and listed what he called "international com petitions and their results." According to Mr Wigg there had been eight international competitions for Mach 2 fighters, of which five had been won by the American F-104 and three by the French Mirage; eight competitions for light transports, all won by the Dutch F.27; three for heavy freighters, of which two were won by the Canadian CL-44 and one by the American DC-8F; and nine competitions for "regional" jets, of which five were won by the Caravelle and four by the Boeing 727. He agreed that three VClOs had been sold to Ghana; a "politically dodgy" six Viscounts to China; and six BAC One-Elevens "with an escape clause" to America. Mr Wigg attributed this alleged failure to the consequences which followed the Sandys policy on the aircraft industry. Mr Peter Thorneycroft, who has an engagingly relaxed approach to debate, and is always ready to take a swipe at any opposing argument, had two answers for Mr Wigg. Firstly, he said, we not only shared equipment between our own services but between allies as well. We were buying Skybolt from the USA and the AS. 30 air-to-ground missile from France. But we were selling aero-engines and the Blood hound ground-to-air missile to a number of countries. Secondly, said the Minister, "if the hon Member really thinks that we can put a piece of equipment up against a piece of American equipment in common, fair and open competition, with the best man win ning, he is under a great illusion." In neutral countries where there was no possi bility of pressure from any source the Concluded on page 417
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