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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0692.PDF
676 FLIGHT International, 27 USAF B-52s drop both normal and low-drag bombs over Vietnam during a raid on Vietcong jungle routes south of the demilitarised zone on April II. B-S2s formerly based at Anderson AFB, Guam, and making 5,000 mile-out-and-return bombing missions over Vietnam, are now based at the new U Taphao air base, near Sataahip, Thailand AFVG: WILL THE GERMANS JOIN? PROSPECTS ARE CONSIDERED HIGH in both Whitehall and Paris that the West German Government will decide to par- ticipate in the AFVG programme, and both the British and French Governments will press the Germans for the earliest possible decision. This was made clear in London last week after the British and French Ministers of Defence, Mr Denis Healey and M Pierre Messmer, had met in London' to discuss the project. It is intended that the Germans would have some share in working out the details of the project, though this will inevitably involve higher costs and complexity in the R&D stage. Clearly, however, the Germans could not pursue both their AVS (Advanced Vertical Strike) project and the AFVG. Germany is responsible for two-thirds of the estimated £145 mil- lion expenditure which the AVS, a joint project with the USA, will require over ;six years. At last week's meeting, briefly reported in World News last week, it was agreed to postpone by 18 months, to January I, 1969, the date beyond which it will be financially penalising for either party unilaterally to withdraw from the project, and after which withdrawal by one part- ner will require 14 months' notice. This is not, specifically, a "decision date" or "go-ahead," as it was described in our report last week, and by January 1, 1969, prototypes should already be well under way. Whitehall emphasises that this delay does not mean any substantial delay in the planned industrial pro- gramme, though it is generally agreed that there has been delay in reaching an agreed specification. It is hoped that this will be settled in next month's meeting, in Paris, between British and French Ministers. French insistence on a higher- performance intercepter than was pre- viously envisaged is causing some con- cern, for it is thought that it is probable that this will increase the divergence between the French and British requj ments, and make a common solution acceptable cost more difficult to reali The planned date of entry into Ry service, 1974, remains unchanged by ) present project-definition slippage. 1 official Whitehall view is that whatei Britain's Far East commitments are then—and it appears increasingly liki that a major withdrawal will be a nounced in July—there is still a place the RAF for the AFVG. Island Bases Purchase Price BRITAIN HAS PAID THE OWNERS of cert; islands in the British Indian Occ Territory £1,013,000 for the freehol outright. This was revealed in a Commc written answer last week by the Sea tary of State for Defence, Mr Dei Healey. The purchases are Desroch Farquhar and some islands in the Chaj Archipelago. These islands have been bought as first stage in Britain's controversial i. bases policy. Since Mr Healey's visit' the Far East this week is being in* preted as a prelude to a British itf drawal east of Suez, it remains debatal whether they will ever be required, RAN Re-equipment Advanced ; THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY will get its j Douglas A-4E Skyhawk fighters and, Grumman Tracker ASW aircraft i months ahead of schedule. They are; equip the strike/air defence and al submarine elements of HMAS M bourne respectively. The troop can HMAS Sydney will sail from Sydney June to load the aircraft in the Unii States, returning to Australia in Septe ber. Satellite Misuse Deplored THE "NEW YORK POST" has <j« President Johnson to review the vi< practice of using US weather satellites photograph North Vietnam targets fore they are bombed. The paper & that the Senate is expected this monts act on the Space Treaty, which ° nuclear weapons from extra-terre space and proscribes military uses o Moon. f; "While the Treaty does not i» reconnaissance satellites for military surely the spirit of the document is. weapons of war should not be P
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