U.S. Plane Makers Outstripping Axis

Northern Advocate, 18 December 1942, Page 3

U.S. Plane Makers Outstripping Axis

(Received 2.30 p.m.) (8.0.W.' RUGBY. Dec. 17

An air war programme ol' £59,500.000,000 for the 'year ending November 30. 1943. was outlined today by the Director for the United States Air Production Boa*?d (Mr Donald Nelson), who declared that America, was now producing as many combat weapons as the entire Axis, but that the •'grimmest fighting and hardest work" still lay ahead. This latest programme was nearly *our times that for the year ending November 30. 1942, during which actual expenditure was £550.000,000 inside the programme.

Production for war alone in 1943 must be equal in value to all goods and services produced by the nation in the year’s greatest prosperity attainment. This goal would mean that by the end of 1943. the United States would be out-producing the Axis by two to one. and, with the Allies, by three to one. Rubber Shortage Describing 1943 as the crucial year in the rubber situation, he said the US. has 30.000.000 tyre replacements. mostly old tyres, retreads and tyres from reclaimed rubber instead of the normal 90.000.000 new tyres. If the synthetic rubber programme is completely successful and existing tyres ave carefully conserved, the United States will have defeated the rubber shortage by the .end of 1943. If not the rubber shortage, in terms of civilian transportation, would mean a breakdown and a rubber starved military machine may have defeated the United States. In 1942 the United States transformed itself from the world.’s greatest producer of peacetime goods to a producer of war machines and equipment at a rate unequalled by any other nation. At the year’s end production of shooting equipment was moving four times faster than in November. 1941.