BRITAIN'S AIR FORCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18949, 21 February 1925, Page 9

BRITAIN'S AIR FORCE.

THIS YEAR'S ESTIMATES. TOTAL SOUGHT £15,809,000. INCREASES IN STRENGTH. By Telosraph—Press Association— -Copyright Router. LONDON. Feb. 19. The Air Estimates for 1925-26 total £15,809,000, compared with £15,113,000 for 1924-25. The strength of the air 1 force at present is equivalent to 54 squadrons, including 25 1-3 at Home, eight in Irak, six in India and 4 1-3 in Egypt and Palestine. The estimates provide for a personnel of 36,000 in all ranks, an increase of 1000. The pay of the force is increased by £471,000. Parliament is asked to vote the same salary to the Secretary of State for Air as to other Secretaries of State, thus reverting to the arrangement which obtained when the Air Minisry was constituted. In addition to the total given, account must also be taken of the expenditure bv the Colonial CMliee under the Middlo East vote of £3,116,000, comprising Irak £2,744,000, Palestine (across the Jordan) £372,(XX), and by tho Admiralty tor the fleet air arm an expenditure of £1,320,000, an effective net increase of £ 1,972,000. In regard to airships, for which £500,000 is provided in the estimates, the official opinion is that the commercial airship service is at present the principal object to keep in view. The programme. of airship development is being made sufficiently elastic to render it possible to accelerate tho transition to a phase of commercial operation. Meanwhile the immediate policy is to secure that every step should be taken to ensure safety and success in the experimental stage, especially in view of the fact that these ships are twice the size of any previously constructed. An extensive, programme of research and experiment is in hand in this connection. The dirigible 1133 will be reconditioned shortly, and will carry out a series of experimental flights. Ro6 is now being reconditioned at Pulham for an experimental flight to Egypt. Mooring masts are being constructed, in order that the new airships may be able to moor at C'ardington and at two stations overseas. The British air estimates for 1924-25 | showed a net increase of £2.500,000 over ! those for the preceding year. 'J he original net total of the estimates was '• compared with £12.011.000 for 1923-24. land £10,895,0 CX) for 1922-23. The first j named amount was subsequently mj creased to £15,113,000. The most j interesting votes last year were, those relating to technical and warlike stores and I works and buildings. The first head | showed an increase of £1,832,700 to a ! total of £5.700.000 net, this figure mI eluding experimental and research services; 3 while the expenditure on works, i buildings, and lands was increased by | £328.C00 to a net figure of £2,127.000. ; There was an increase of £162,400 in | the quartering and stores. It was exj peeted that by the end of March, 1925, j the Royal Air Force would have expanded "to a total of about _ 541 squadIrons. equipped with approximately 650 ! first Tine aircraft, of which 200 would be ■definitely allocated to home defence. : There should be in existence 18 squadirons for home defence, the Navy would j have the equivalent of 10A : squadrons land tiie Army 4£. lu addition, there ! were to be six squadrons in the initial ! stage of equipment. The squadron iuI creases last year entailed the provision |of something like 270 machines—l4o as I the first line, with 50 per cent. comi pleted reserve behind them and another 150 per cent, of machines not fully assembled—apart from the equipment | needed in the early stages of forming the I other six squadrons. The details of the j technical and warlike stores vote showed lth.it, of the net total of £5,700,000, i £5.144,000 was allocated to aeroplanes, | seaplanes, engines and spares, an increase |of £1,524,500. The next largest increase | was for armament and amunition, from ! £253,000 to £388,000. The actual ini crease in personnel last year was only 2000, bringing the total to 35.000, but under the vote for auxiliary and reserve ;forces there was an increase of £46,000 ito £284,000. The biggest part of this ! increase was in the capitation payments |to civil companies for training pilots. A j nominal figure of £IOO only appeared i for airships. A considerable reduction 'of the strength of the air and other forces in the Middle East was made last year. The result was to reduce from j £5.040.800 to £3,708,850 the contribution to be made by the Colonial Office from i the Middle East vote to air votes in re- I jspeci of the cost of the air force and auxiliary services. Of this contribution | £3.091.850 was in respect of Irak and j i£617,000 in respect of Palestine and I j Transjordania.