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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1912.PDF
FLIGHT International, 25 June 1964 1055 B-70 THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IMPROVER BY IAIN PIKE Part 1 ON Monday, May 11, the heaviest and most powerful aeroplaneever built, the dazzlingly white and beautiful XB-70A,made its first public appearance in a ceremony at Palmdale, California—all but ignored by its owners, the US Air Force and Department of Defense. Far away in Munich, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, some hours before the actual rollout, when asked by a Los Angeles-based reporter if the B-70 programme would be increased, replied, "Certainly not. There will be no increase in the programme. We made that perfectly clear." The roll- out, taking place 18 months later than originally planned, was further diminished in effect by the announcement the day before, at a Mother's Day press conference, that the No 5 fuel tank would remain empty owing to the difficulty of sealing it effectively. All appearances indicate that the XB-70A has degenerated to a S1.5-billion survivor of what once promised to be a $10-billion programme. Nevertheless, while the B-70 series may be stillborn as an operational military system, the missile versus bomber reliability and strategic value controversy is far from over in the USA. Missiles have not yet won completely, even if cost/effective- ness has killed the B-70. The role of manned bombers is still being argued in military circles, with Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen Curtis E. LeMay as the chief proponent, currently aided on the political scene by the Presidential aspirant from Arizona, Senator Barry Goldwater, who stirs missile advocates to fury by saying that the birds are undependable. But Secretary McNamara has beaten down stronger political advocates of the B-70 than the man from Arizona, emerging unscathed from several bitter brushes with the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, powerful holders of the purse-strings for all US military spending. In March 1962, after months of bickering with the Department of Defense, the committee added an unrequested $491-million to the existing programme, in an effort to start production from what was then believed to be a nearly completed prototype. The committee made no bones about its hostility to the Secretary of Defense, but it failed to move McNamara, who ignored the order by refusing to spend the money. In fact the House committee retired hurt when the President, John F. Kennedy, backed the Department of Defense "whiz kid." Such is the power and stubbornness of Robert Mc- Namara. Summarised, this means that the B-70 may have lost, but bombers have not; and, as long as there are the vocal LeMays in the Air Force, the struggle will go on. These years of controversy have tended to obscure the positive aspects of the B-70 as a colossal step-forward in all areas of aircraft technology. Strategists and politicians can argue the pros and cons until they are blue in the face, but the talk cannot drive away the 530,0001b prototype being groomed right now for 2,000 m.p.h. cruising flight at North American Aviation's Palmdale plant on the outskirts of Edwards Air Force Base in California. Lockheed's mystery YF-12A (ex-A-11) is already flying at Mach 3, and North American's own X-15 has reached considerably loftier realms of
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