Navy May Become Main British Nuclear Force

Press, Volume CI, Issue 30007, 17 December 1962, Page 13

Navy May Become Main British Nuclear Force

(N Z.P.A.-Renter—Copyright)

PARIS, December 16.

Britain hopes the United States will offer the Polaris submarinebased missile on favourable terms if the Skybolt project is abandoned, according to authoritative British sources today.

The Prime Minister, Mr Macmillan, will go to his Bahamas meeting with President Kennedy this week still hoping to save the Skybolt missile; but if it is dropped the Royal Navy, equipped with the Polaris, is expected to become the focal point of British strategy with consequent down-grading of the role of the Royal Air Force.

If President Kennedy was determined to abandon the Skybolt, Mr Macmillan could ask for an acceptable alternative to keep Britain an active, independent nuclear Power •in the late 1960’5, the sources said.

Britain is still determined to remain an effective independent nuclear Power, but experts say it is unlikely she can afford to take over development of the complex and troublesome Skybolt missile.

The only firm United States offer so far by way of a substitute was the Hound Dog, a stand-off bomb with a range of under 500 miles, compared with the Sky bolt’s 1000. A Washington message says President Kennedy is expected to urge Britain to take over the Skybolt programme itself on the ground that its further development would not be as costly as Britain claims. The President also is expected to reassure Mr Macmillan that there is no tendency in his Administration to downgrade Britain’s future role in international affairs.

The view in high official circles in Washington is that the British furore over the American decision to abandon the Skybolt missile is really political rather than military. The United States has given up the Skybolt because it would cost an estimated 2000 million dollars to develop the system and put it into effect on a scale of any value.

However, one very wellinformed official said that if Mr Macmillan feels the weapon is politically necessary and of military value to Britain, it could complete the development programme from the point at which it now stands for about 225 million dollars. It then could spend whatever it liked or was able to in production. This would be far below estimates for the original United States programme, which was on a far vaster scale than Britain alone would need. Officials realise they cannot afford to let Mr Macmillan leave the Nassau conference “empty-handed." They expect the President to give him some nuclear weapons suggestion which will indicate the good faith of the United States Government. But they do not believe Mr Kennedy will make any hard and firm commitments.

Officials said other subjects the two leaders could be expected to cover include:

The problem of long-range co-operative military and economic aid to India to bolster it against the continuing threat from Communist China. The President will emphasise his belief that, Britain and the Commonwealth should share a considerable portion of this burden. Allied diplomatic strategy in the wake of the Cuban crisis. The Congo. The European Common Market. Mr Macmillan today began talks near Paris with the French President, General de

Gaulle. In the quiet of the fortified fifteenth century chateau of Rambouillet, the French and British leaders discussed East-West relations, Europe's place in the unfolding power struggle, and the roles France and Britain can play in it. the Associated Press said.

The basic purpose of Mr Macmillan’s week-end with General de Gaulle was to find out, if he could, just what the prospects were of Britain entering the Common Market. In the answer to this riddle lies the fate of his Govern-

ment and the future of Britain, said the Associated Press. Sources close to the Mac-millan-de Gaulle talks said today that if the Bahamas talks resulted in definite abandonment of the Skybolt, further British-French talks might be expected on the assumption that Britain would no longer feel herself bound by her nuclear co-operation agreement with the United States. This agreement obliges Britain not to communicate any nuclear information to third parties.