STRATEGIC U.S. BOMBERS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27993, 13 June 1956, Page 13

STRATEGIC U.S. BOMBERS

Huge Sum Sought By Command

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) Rec. 10 p.m.)

WASHINGTON. June 11

General Curtis Lemay, chief of the United States Strategic Air Command, asked today for an extra 3,800 million dollars each year for several years for his command.

Much of the extra money would go to increase the production of B-52 intercontinental jet bombers, which cost eight million dollars

each. Senator Dennis Chavez, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Sub-com-mittee on defence spending, said today he would be willing to “give it all to them.”

He said the command was allotted 5,000 million dollars in the Budget under consideration.

Meanwhile, Senator Richard Russell, chief of the Armed Services committee, said today that the idea of cancelling President Eisenhower’s entire foreign aid bill and putting all the money into United States airpower was “worthy of exploring.”

The House of Representatives today passed a foreign aid bill for 3,800 million dollars —exactly the amount General Lemay, has asked for.

The House cut a quarter of the amount President Eisenhower sought. Senator Russell said the aid programme could draw on its unspent balances left over from previous appropriations.

The Administration recently increased B-52 production to reach a peak rate of 20 a month some time in early 1958. General Lemay told reporters his new proposal was based on involved war exercises recently conducted by his command to determine what increased strength was needed to offset gains in Soviet airpower.