The Southland Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1938. Britain Moves Toward Equality In The Air

Southland Times, Issue 23548, 30 June 1938, Page 4

The Southland Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1938. Britain Moves Toward Equality In The Air

Steps taken at the Air Ministry “with a view to unifying control and responsibility for the development and production of aircraft have been announced by the new Secretary for Air, and were described in a British Official Wireless message printed yesterday. Sir Kingsley Wood has lost no time in clearing the ground for a more adequate air programme; but his task is a formidable one. It is now generally known that under the control of Lord Swinton the production of fighting planes and bombers fell to a dangerously low level. Just before Sir Kingsley Wood went to the Air Ministry Germany had attained three times the strength of Britain. Her workshops were making firstclass machines at the rate of more than 6000 a year, and were organized to support a 50 per cent, increase in the period covered by the revised scheme announced by Lord Swinton in May, so that if war had come at that time Germany would have had a three-to-one superiority to begin with, and an immeasurably better equipment for replacements. Nothing less than a collaboration between the best engineers and organizers in the country can allow Britain to overcome a formidable handicap and maintain a higher rate of production. The objective was recently outlined by J. L. Garvin in The Observer: —

Can there be a moment’s doubt as to what the principle ought to be? Can it be less than Lord Baldwin’s principle of air-equality with any Power within striking distance of this country? Can the standard be less than parity in respect of first-line strength, full reserves in proportion, and reasonable certainty of equal expansion from the Outset in case of that ordeal against which all defence is meant to provide? This result would be worth any effort and any price.

But numerical strength is not the only consideration. Aircraft design is steadily evolving, and a ceaseless activity in research must remain the basis of a real parity. The problem is complex. It is not simply a matter of finding what seems to be the best possible design for particular types of aircraft and then setting in motion the many wheels of production. The whole system must be organized in such a way that adjustments in design can be made quickly and efficiently without dislocating the assembly lines. Under modern methods of mass production this is not easy; only a flexible organization can be expected to cope with the strains and difficulties inseparable from the present state of the industry. Not the least of the difficulties is the need for co-operation between departments that have never found it easy to yield in the questions of authority. The building of war machines has a curious duality, perhaps for the first time in history. It is essentially a military enterprise; yet it can be carried out only by handing over almost unlimited powers to the men in charge of production. Whatever their capacity for organization in the field, military experts have always shown a curious dislike for collaboration with civilians. They believe, naturally enough, that the men who are to use the machines should know best what is needed for particular services; and while the new aeroplanes are still with the designers their advice will be invaluable. But production is another matter. Military interference at this stage would be foolish and dangerous. The truth seems to be that war, and the preparation for war—or measures of defence that could be considered as an insurance against war—are making wider demands, and under conditions of actual warfare would require the service of a total and organized community. Modern fighting is a matter of machines; and the nation with the best chance of survival is obviously the one that not only has the largest number, of first-line planes, but also has the industrial system, the technical experts and the raw materials for keeping up an uninterrupted flow of replacements. To institute and control a system of this kind is clearly a task requiring the greatest skill and foresight; Sir Kingsley Wood made a good beginning by calling in Lord Nuffield, who is now building a factory for airframes, and who is probably better equipped than anyone else in Britain for overcoming the lag in production in this department of the industry. Once the new workshops are organized and productive it can scarcely be doubted that Lord Nuffield will set the pace for other departments, and that more of them will come under his personal supervision. Inevitably it will be some time before the necessary factories have been built and a proper co-operation established among them. In a democratic country there are special difficulties that have not had to be faced in Germany, where an elaborate machinery of control, a simplification of method made possible by the acceptance of fewer designs, and a regimented industry have all been important factors in building up Field-Marshal Goering’s air ar-! mada. But centralization has i

dangers of its own, which can be avoided in Britain. (Where there is a strict secrecy and an unquestioned authority, for instance, the country must remain unaware of serious lags in production, and is denied the free and open discussion which led to a reorganized Air Ministry in London.) And if there is a handicap in a distributed authority it can be overcome by seeing that the best available men are found for the key positions. In doing this already Sir Kingsley Wood seems to have taken the first and hardest step towards air-equality.