NEW WEAPONS OF WAR

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27961, 7 May 1956, Page 7

NEW WEAPONS OF WAR

British Development Described VALUE AS DETERRENT SEEN British effort in developing guided missiles and nuclear weapons was described in a broadcast talk last evening by Mr F. J. Erroll. Parliamentary Secretary to the British Ministry of Supply, which is responsible for supplying the needs of the three armed services. “We do hot think anti-aircraft guns will be any good any more for defending our cities, so we‘ have abolished our Ack-Ack Command.” he said. “Instead we are going to rely on fighters equipped with guns and guided missiles and also on guided missiles fired from the ground these missiles are controlled by radio—or electronics—and are very complicated. “We are developing guided missiles for aircraft to use. ships to use, and for our ground forces to use. We test them as far as we can in Britain. We have not spared our own precious soil. We have several guided weapons and rocket ranges in Britain. But for full tests we need the big range at Woomera. in Australia.

“We are also looking ahead to the day when the bomber will not be able to pierce the defences of the enemy.” he said. “So we are going ahead with the development of what we call a medium-range ballistic missile.. This will be a big rocket. It will be fired into the upper air and then be guided on to its target many hundreds of miles away. The problems are truly immense—but we are determined to resolve them. And that means more work and effort in our research departments and by our leading engineering companies, who will also have to keep up the export drive. “How are vze going to stoo the enemy? I am going to be brutally frank. We have got to show him that we can make it so hot for him that he will not ever start a war. And that means the nuclear bomb. In Britain today we are spending a great deal of money on developing neuclear bombs —that is, atomic and hydrogen bombs. It is not a pretty business, but we must do it if we are to deter the aggressor, as I believe we can. And we must test these new weapons we are making. We must show that they work. Otherwise they would not deter the would-be aggressor. It is a rather terrible picture, is it not? “But there is a brighter side.” he sadi. “As an engineer myself, I know how valuable all this research work can be for peace as well as war. Jet engines for war have hastened jet aeroplanes for civil air transport. Radar for locating enemy ships now guides merchant vessels safely into harbour. Atomic research offers, too. the prize of peaceful atomic energy, which may relieve mankind of drudgery for ever.

“In the Ministry of Supply we prepare for war. but all round us we are building the structure of enduring and ennobling peace,” said Mr Erroll.