LAUNCHING OF MISSILES

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28512, 15 February 1958, Page 17

LAUNCHING OF MISSILES

Details Of U.S. Plans

(Rec. 8 p.m.) WASHINGTON, February 13. The United States, as does Britain, plans to put somq of its ballistic missile launching sites in protected, semi-underground pits, to reduce the tiamage of enemy counter-attack, the American Associated Press reported today. An official British White Paper, issued in London today and outlining military progress in Britain, said Britain was developing a medium-range ballistic rocket more advanced than those the United States now possesses and is designing it for launching from underground sites.

Pending arrival of copies of the White Paper, United States nylitary officials were reluctant to comment directly on the report. But, the American Associated Press said, it was assumed in Washington that the advanced type of missile mentioned by the White Paper was a solid fuel design. If so, "this would mean that British scientists had skipped a “generation” of weapons, profiting by American work on liquid fuel rockets and the new trend in American design toward solid fuel propellents. British and American experts were collaborating closely in solid fuel rocket designing, the news agency said. The groundwork for such collaboration was laid in the mutual weapons development programme fqr N.A.T.0., announced in 1955. Both the United States Navy and the United States Air Force are well advanced in solid fuel design and the United States Army has announced it will begin production of the “Pershing” solid fuel rocket eventually to replace the present liquid fuel Redstone 200-mile range bombard-' ment missile.

But a Reuter correspondent in Washington today quoted United States defence officials as saying they did not know of any thought of building underground missile bases in the United States. Construction 6f a new intercontinental ballistic missile base in Wyoming was announced recently, but that would be on the ground, they said. TheSe experts said they doubted the United States would build underground bases as the North American Continent was not so near to possible Soviet launching sites as were Britain and the European, Continent, the Reuter correspondent said.

Call For Tax Cuts fa U.K.

(Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON, February 13. The Federation of British Industries, an organisation of employers, told the Government today to cut taxation.

It advised cuts especially in the taxes on profits, income, and petrol to encourage saving and help to reduce the operating costs of industry. The federation, an association of nearly 50,000 firms, was making suggestions in a public statement for the Budget now being- drawn up to be presented to Parliament in April. The federation proposed that the profits tax should be cut to a flat rate of about 7| per cent. The standard income tax rate by 6d to 8s in the pound and tax on petrol and associate oils by 6d to 2s a gallon.