NEW JET FIGHTERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27570, 12 December 1950, Page 7

NEW JET FIGHTERS

Australia’s Acquisition SPEED-UP OF AIR FORCE RE-EQUIPMENT NZPA Special Correspondent Rec. 8 p.m. SYDNEY, Dec. 11. The announcement by the Prime Minister, Mr Menzies, that Australia has purchased from Britain 36 Gloster Meteor. Mark VIII jet fighters is accepted by the air force authorities as the best possible assurance that the Government intends to waste no time in strengthening the Royal Australian Air Force. Previous plans involving the production in Australia of Hawker PIOBI jet fighters and Canberra bombers are still going ahead, but recent talks between Cabinet Ministers and service chiefs have convinced the Government that immediate action is necessary. Australia now produces Vickers Vampire jet fighters, but senior officers claim that these are obsolescent and that the production rate is not enough to keep even one squadron in the air under service conditions. These officers support this statement by pointing out that when No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, was sent to Korea the only planes existing in sufficient quantity to keep the squadron active were petrol-driven Mustangs. This squadron will be the first to be re-equipped with Meteors. The Meteor Mark VIII carries eight 20-millimetre cannon and has racks for two 10001 b bombs and eight 901 b rockets. It is a progressive development of the Meteor Mark IV which has a speed of 585 miles an hour. Its great advantage over most other jets lies in its range, which is stated to be in excess of 1000 miles, with jettisonable wing tanks. Recently a test pilot, J. Cooksley, flew one from Gloucester (England) to Fife Ness (Scotland) and back, a distance of 620 miles, in 72 minutes, thus setting an international record for a 1000 kilometres closed circuit. The cost of Australia’s latest acquisition is believed to be about £5,500,000 for the planes, spare engines and parts. Iri addition, the Government plans to buy the latest type of jet reconaissance bomber from America at a cost of £2,500,000. Another type under .consideration for ocean reconnaissance and attack against submarines is the American Lockheed Neptune piston - engined plane, a special version of which holds the world’s long-distance record (Perth to Columbus, Ohio) of 11,235 miles. The service version has a range of 4000 miles and armament including eight cannon, two machine guns and 10,0001 b of bombs. When the production of jet fighters and bombers, and particularly jet fighters, is stepped up, Australia hopes to become independent of overseas supplies and to have an air force capable of meeting an enemy as far as possible from her own shores. The development of heavy bomber airfields with equipment and maintenance crews capable of handling United States aircraft has also been discussed, and a move in this direction may be made in a few month*. Recently General George Kenny, former chief of the United States Pacific Air Forces, stressed this as a basic requirement of Pacific preparedness.

Mr E. J. Harrison, the Australian Resident Minister in London, who has approached the British Post Office on the delays in the transmission of press messages between England and Australia and New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand correspondents in London say conditions are worse than in the immediate post-war years although the volume of press traffic has actually decreased. An official at Australia House said today that Mr Harrison was awaiting a full reply to the points he had raised. —London, Dec. 10.