U.S. PRODUCTION OF MUNITIONS

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25954, 7 November 1949, Page 7

U.S. PRODUCTION OF MUNITIONS

“MUST MAINTAIN SUPREMACY ” DISCOURAGEMENT TO ENEMY (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, Nov. 5. The United States must endeavour at all times to maintain such munitions supremacy that any potential enemy would be discouraged entirely from taking a path of aggression, said the Secretary of Defence (Mr Louis Johnson) in an address to the American Legion. He believed that the United States had much superior weapons to any potential enemy. The United States was still ahead of the rest of the world in munitions production. “Supremacy in mass production is still ours, and by a wide margin, but like all leaders in any race the breath of those close behind us is warm on our neck,” he said. “We are still ahead, but we must continue to remain ahead. Our weapons must be developed for use not against the theoretical enemy of another age but for defence against a present great land power. Our strategy must be to strike back where he is likely to be weakest—his long lines of communication, transpoTtation, and his production facilities—and to defend ourselves against the strategy upon which he is likely to concentrate—a blitz ground attack against nations friendly to us, and atomic raids upon our industrial centres.”

Mr Johnson said that the United States had had more time to prepare means to counteract the effects of atomic bombs should she become the victim of such an attack. He warned that the United States and her Western allies must consider the possibility of being outnumbered in manpower in the event of war They must make sure that the deficiency woulq have its compensations “in the superiority of our weapons, our skills, our facilities, and our industrial potential."