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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0186.PDF
180 FLIGHT International, 2 February US BUDGET FOR DEFENCE AND SPACE RECOMMENDATIONS for US Government spending ondefence and space projects were included in PresidentJohnson's budget message to Congress on January 24. This article is based on extracts from this message and from his State of the Union message on January 10. The proposed budget is subject to the approval of Congress. In his State of the Union message President Johnson said:— "The Soviet Union has in the past year increased its long- range missile capabilities. It has begun to place near Moscow a limited anti-missile defence. My first responsibility to our people is to assure that no nation can ever find it rational to launch a nuclear attack or to use its nuclear power as a credible threat against us or our allies. "That is why an important link between the Soviet Union and the United States is our common interest in arms control and disarmament. We have the duty to slow down the arms race between us, in both conventional and nuclear weapons and defences. Any additional race would impose on our peoples, and on all mankind, an additional waste of resources with no gain in security to either side." The estimated total defence spending recommended by the President for the 1968 fiscal year (beginning July 1, 1967) is $75,000 million, of which the Poseidon missile accounts for $1,115 million. The Minuteman missile programme would take $20 million, and the Nike-X anti-missile development would account for $375 million. US defence officials have estimated that $4,000-55,000 million would be needed to set up an anti- ballistic-missile system to protect US strategic missile sites only. Budget Proposals The proposed budget is based on US strategic forces which would include over 1,050 land-based and 512 submarine- deployed missiles and 600 strategic bombers. Defensive forces would include 30 intercepter aircraft squadrons, six Bomarc intercepter missile squadrons and 18 air defence missile battalions. In his budget message President Johnson said: — "Today, our military requirements are dictated by two fundamental realities. We must continue to counter aggression in South Vietnam. We must also continue to enhance our ability to meet changing threats to our freedom and security elsewhere. The 1968 budget will ensure that our forces remain equal to both these tasks. "Though small in relation to the nation's total economic activity, the cost of honouring our commitment to South Vietnam is nevertheless substantial. Expenditures necessary to support military operations in South-East Asia will total $21,900 million in 1968, about three-tenths of budget expendi- tures for national defence. A year ago we were in the midst of a rapid build-up of our forces in Vietnam. Rather than submit a budget to the Congress based on highly uncertain estimates, I requested funds sufficient to finance the conflict through fiscal year 1967. At the present time the situation is different. While unforeseen events can upset the most careful estimate, we are in a much better position to determine our future requirements in Vietnam. As a consequence, my 1968 budget provides for those requirements on a continuing basis, including the possibility of an extension of combat beyond the end of the fiscal year. In 1968, we will:— "Continue interisive development of Nike-X but take no action now to deploy an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defence; initiate discussions with the Soviet Union on the limitation of ABM deployment; in the event these discussions prove unsuc- cessful, we will reconsider our deployment decision. To provide for actions that may be required at that time, approximately $375 million has been included in the 1968 budget for the production of Nike-X for such purposes as defence of our offensive weapon systems. "Maintain our decisive strategic superiority by initiating procurement of the advanced Poseidon submarine-launched missile, improving our present strategic missiles, and further safeguarding our capacity to direct our forces in the event of attack. "Provide our forces in Vietnam with all the weapons and supplies they need and add to our war reserves at the same time. "Add to the mobility and effectiveness of our general- purpose forces by increasing the fire power of our ground forces, enlarging our helicopter strength, pursuing a vigorous shipbuilding and conversion programme, and purchasing additional modern tactical aircraft "Increase our airlift and sea-lift capabilities by further procurement of the giant C-5A transport plane, and procure- ment of five fast-deployment logistics ships. "Continue the vigorous research and development pro- grammes vital to maintain the most modern, versatile, and potent forces in the world." Space Expenditure The estimated expenditure for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration amounts to $5,300 million compared with $5,600 million in the current fiscal year. The President asked Congress to appropriate $5,050 million in "new money" for NASA, compared with $4,968 million for 1967. A total of $454.7 million is earmarked for the start of the Apollo appli- cations programme, to be carried out in the 1970s at an ultimate cost of about $2,500 million. In NASA's unmanned space science programme $71 million is requested for development of the Voyager spacecraft, which would land on Mars in 1973. A decision to build a nuclear rocket engine for flight use would eventually cost about $2,500 million; such a rocket would be used as an upper stage for the Saturn 5 vehicle. According to NASA officials, a decision later this year to ahead with the nuclear rocket could result in a first flight test by 1977 and an operational rocket in 1980. In the defence budget a figure of $430 million is allocated to the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) programme. In his budget message the President said: — "In 1961, this nation resolved to send a manned expedition to the Moon in this decade. Much hard work remains and many obstacles must still be overcome before that goal is met. Yet, in the last few years we have progressed far enough that we must now look beyond our original objective and set our course for the more distant future. Indeed, we have no alter- native unless we wish to abandon the manned space capability we have created. "This budget provides for the initiation of an effective follow-on to the manned lunar landing. We will explore the Moon. We will learn to live in space for months at a time. Our astronauts will conduct scientific and engineering experi- ments in space to enhance man's mastery of that environment. "The Surveyor and Orbiter projects, in photographing the Moon, have demonstrated dramatically the value of unmanned spacecraft in investigating other objects in the solar system. Accordingly, we are proceeding with the development of the Voyager system for an unmanned landing on Mars in 1973. We will also continue other unmanned investigations nearer the Earth. "In recent years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission have jointly undertaken the development of nuclear rocket propul- sion technology. We are now considering whether that effort should be expanded to the development of the rocket itself. The overall budget totals allow for the possibility of proceed- ing if an affirmative decision is reached. "These new ventures are the result of careful planning and selectivity. We are not doing everything in space that we are technologically capable of doing. Rather, we are choosing those projects that give us the greatest return on our investment "To support these new projects and to maintain our existing programmes, an increase of $82 million is requested in ne»' obligational authority for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for 1968. Expenditures, however, will decline by $300 million in the coming year, primarily because reduced requirements for the manned lunar landing P1 gramme."
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