Britain’s Urgent Need For Air Defence

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27875, 25 January 1956, Page 13

Britain’s Urgent Need For Air Defence

(Rec. 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, January 24.

Summing up the implications of Russian air strength as shown by recent official Soviet figures, a special correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” estimates that Britain has three years in which to get her air defences ready to meet any fullscale attack. “The recently disclosed fact that hundreds of American bombers are constantly in th j air and are, therefore, hard to impossible to destroy, makes it probable that if the Kremlin should decide to press its aggression to breaking point, it will try to deliver a thermonuclear knock-out blow on the United States. “The likelihood of this is increased because the Soviet purpose must be to devastate a major foe whose ultimate military strength can exceed its own. “Conversely, any major blow initiated by the Soviet forces must evoke a defensive American counter-attack in reply. “Britain’s position is different. She is the only country of the free world other than the United States which is (or shortly will be) capable of launching a significant hydrogen counter blow against Soviet targets. “Her own strength, however, is not enough to make her a major opponent by herself. Britain is therefore cer-

tainly exposed to the risk of Soviet hydrogen attack on her bomber airfields., “But because the United States must always be the main Soviet target, Britain should not have to withstand the full weight of a Soviet attack at the outset of major hosilities. “Only if the United States were knocked out would the remaining Soviet forces be brought to bear as a whole on Britain. Even then the Kremlin might prefer to starve her out by sea. “On the other hand, against Soviet air attack Britain cannot be certain of help from any allies. The United States Air Force might well be fully tied down elsewhere. Britain therefore must assure from her own resources her defence against an air attack which could kill and injure millions of her people and perhaps end her independent existence. '“Paramount Importance” “In her defence plans these facts are of paramount importance. It follows from them that the Royal Air Force must be in a position to sustain and rep“l by itself alone the full weight of any Soviet air attack on this island. The time which Britain has to bring her air defences to fighting pitch is set not by Soviet policy but by Soviet capabilities.

“No momentary Soviet smiles can alter the fact that as soon as the necessary number of new Soviet bombers

exists, Britain will lie under a mortal threat unless it can defend itself adequately. On the present Soviet rate of production, which the new fiveyear plan will increase probably substantially, three years is the maximum that Britain can safely spend in achieving defensive readiness. Even this will probably include the better part of one uneasy year of exposure to grave peril. It follows that the rate of production of British combat aircraft must greatly and rapidly increase. “This will not cope with the needs of the more distant future. The Russians are not standing still, and the technological proposals of the new five-year plan contain a stern warning for Britain. “Our own development of yet more advanced types of aircraft and of ground-to-air guided missiles continues to be essential. But we cannot defend ourselves with the weapons of the future. What we require against the needs of the next five years must broadly be made from the existing prototypes of piloted aircraft What is so made will be, quite literally, vital.”