YUGOSLAVIA BABIY OFF FOR AIRCRAFT AND ARMY EQUIPMENT

Grey River Argus, 8 November 1949, Page 5

YUGOSLAVIA BABIY OFF FOR AIRCRAFT AND ARMY EQUIPMENT

Reason of U.S. Decision To Sell Supplies (Rec. 9.45 Y LONDON, Nov. 7 The Daily Telegraph’s correspondent at Vienna says: “It is thought here that the decision of the United States to sell aircraft parts and petrol to Yugoslavia may be followed, during nic winter, by releases of other categories of war-like stores to Marshal Tito. Tins American decision was the first relaxation of the American ban prohibiting the sale of any goods which might increase the war potential of the Iron Curtain countries. Yugoslavia’s military weakness is known to be a critical shortage of army and air force equipment of all types. Concern over this is reported to have been conveyed to Western observers when Soviet satellite forces were staging troop demonstrations along Yugoslavia’s northern frontiers in the k'.ie summer and autumn. The Yugoslav Army has about one thousand tanks, including Russian and American models. Only about five hundred of these are thought to be serviceable They are kept going by spares stopped from the remainder. The Yugoslav Air Force h. similarly placed, with most of its assortment of five hundred planes already grounded for the lack of spares