JAPAN AS U.S. AIR BASE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27407, 21 July 1954, Page 11

JAPAN AS U.S. AIR BASE

“ABOMB PLANES NOT WANTED” NEW YORK, July 19. . High military sources in Tokyo were quoted by the American Associated Press today as saying that the States Air Force was no longer counting on Japan as a possible base for atom and hydrogen bombers. The move was described as a direct result of pressure from the Japanese Government, which did not want atomic wcapc s or hydrogen bombcarrying aeroplanes based in Japan. The United States Air Force had pulled out its big bombers from Japan and put them on Okinawa and Guam, the news agency reported. However, bases in Japan still could play a role in any hydrogen borpb attack. The huge refuelling aeroplanes based in Japan could fly up to meet atomic bombers coming from Okinawa or Guam, and feed them an extra load of fuel for the trip to Communist targets in China, Manchuria, or Siberia.

847 jet bombers, flying faster than 600 miles an hour, recently made a 6700-mile non-stop flight from California to Japan, with three refuelling operations. Another flight of American Sabre jets hopped from Tokyo to Bangkok, without touching ground. They, too, were refuelled in the air. Flights of similar length from Okinawa or Guam would reach any important Communist target in the Far East and return.

Swift 847 s would be stationed on Guam and Okinawa, said the American Associated Press report. 8295, which carried the original atom bombs, already were being moved from Japan to Okinawa.