GUIDED MISSILES FOR BRITISH ARMY

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27593, 25 February 1955, Page 11

GUIDED MISSILES FOR BRITISH ARMY

LONDON, Februaiy 23. The British Army announced today that it is preparing to introduce a guided weapon for war on land. The Secretary of State for War (Mr Anthony Head), in a statement published with the annual financial Estimates. says: "The aims are clear—to organise, equip, and train the Army so that it can make full use of the vastly greater firepower that nuclear weapons are putting into its hands.” Mr Head did not forecast when the Army would be given its new guided weapon, but he made it clear that in the immediate future Britain’s land forces would still

on conventional weapons He said that the Army had to prepare to avoid destruction by an enemy’s nuclear weapons, deal more effectively with guerrilla and other cold war tasks, and be better prepared to play a major part in the “survival and recovery of the life of a country under conditions of nuclear bombardment.” ' '

The statement said: •‘The main weapons for which we shall have to make provision in the immediate future are the Conqueror tank, the L-70 light anti-aircraft gun. the E.N. rifle (the Belgian weapon which the British Army has adopted), and a new sub-machine-gun.”

Cut in Spending The estimates show that the Army will spend £484,000400. compared with £561,000,100 in the current year. This reduction of £77,000,000 is partly because, for the first time in years, the Army’s commitments in various parts of the world have been eased—by the end of the fighting in Korea and by the decision to evacuate the Suez Canal base. Less is to be spent on the introduction of new weapons and equipment in the coming financial year. . On the equipment side the introduction of new wheeled vehicles has. in general, been completed, and full production of many new weapons developed recently has not yet been reached.

, The War Minister’s statement says: The use of land forces in a war involving nuclear weapons is not outmoded. We are determined to develop the organisation, equipment, and training of the Army to meet the needs of such a war and, at the same time to retain its ability to play a full part in the cold war.”

Whether for nuclear warfare or guerrilla fighting in jungles, mountains and forests, there is an urgent need to simplify weapon systems and speed up methods of supply, says the report. The Minister visualises that some existing weapons will be removed altogether, others will be changed, and severe cuts will be made in vehicles—all with the object of increasing mobility and adding to the effective fighting power. But. he adds, it would be wrong to rush into changes until they had been thoroughly tried out, “especially as the majority of our fighting units are now either actively engaged in cold war operations or must be ready for action at short notice.”

The report adds: “Present thinking shows that the division is likely to remain the fighting formation of the armies in the future. But the detailed organisation and equipment of divisions are likely to undergo radical changes as trials proceed and as new weapons, especially tactical nuclear weapons, come more and more into use.”

Experiments are being started with helicopters, but progress will be slow and quantity production of a heavy load vertical lift aircraft, helicopter or otherwise, is still some way off. The Minister said that the new Conqueror tanks were beginning to be issued and would add greatly to Britain’s fighting strength. Improvements in the earlier Centurion tank would give it greater radius of action. “The introduction of the L-70 light anti-aircraft gun, with its associated radar, will give us a very much more powerful weapon, With a much higher probability of a kill in dealing with low-flying aircraft,” he said.

Housing and Reconstruction: Senator Roger Duchet (Conservative). Interior: Mr Maurice BourgesMaunoury (Radical). Justice: Mr Robert Schuman (Popular Republican). Education: Senator Jean Berthoin (Radical). Labour: Mr Paul Bacon (Popular Republican) . Former Servicemen: Mr Raymond Triboulet (de Gaullist). Overseas Territories: Mr Pierre Henri Teitgen (Popular Republican). Industry and Commerce: Mr Andre Morice (Radical). '• Agriculture: Mr Jean Soubret (Conservative). Health, Mr Bernard Lafay (Radical). Tunisian and Moroccan Affairs: Mr Pierre July (Dissident de Gaullist). Merchant Marine: Mr Paul Antier (Conservative). . Post Office: Mr Edouard Bonnefous (near Radical).

“Flying Tanker” Crashes.—A United States Air Force “flying tinker” crashed in flames on a farm shortly after taking off from the Sedalia air force .base in Missouri. Nine members of the crew were killed, but two parachuted to safety. It took two hours to extinguish the flames. —New York, February 24.