EARLIER TIIIS. MONTH I criticised the Fairey Aviation Company for
allowing their publicity department to boast that their new air-to-air guided missile, the Fireflash, is 'as big a technical advance over conventional argument as the aeroplane over the balloon.' I see Air Marshal Sir Thomas Pike agrees. Briefing the press before the annual air defence exercise, he admitted that the Fireflash had only a limited capability, and will riot even go into squadron service. 'We've put our money,' he said, 'on a later one.' This is all very well, but the RAF has gone on putting money into potential swans for years; and the regu- larity with which they have turned out to be stringy old geese is alarming. It must be three years since we were told that the Hunter, though a fine aircraft, was having armament trouble; but that the Javelin was on the way. TWo years ago we heard the same story; and again this winter, if I recollect aright, in the Defence debates. But according to Air Marshal Pike the Hunter is still being 'modified': and the Javelin is 'tending to get an awfully bad name' because of delays in bringing it into squadron service. How long can this sort of thing continue? And what is being done to find out what went wrong, and why? If we were driven to defend our own interests by force, in the Middle East or anywhere else, it would be comforting to know we had some fighter capable of showing fight.
PHAROS
Previous page
