30 JULY 1954, Page 4

Hope for Air Defence

A military correspondent writes : aircraft are obsolescent, their numbers are far too few, and large sums—they will be very large, and frightening to the Treasury—must be laid out to make up present deficiencies. But when all necessary allowances and qualifications have been made, this year's exercise does mean that an end can be seen to what may be called a situation of total vulnerability. With appropriate changes, what applies to Britain applies also to the United States even though the task of air defence is much larger there. Though great efforts and heavy sacrifices must still be made, the importance of all this for the policy and future of the entire West cannot easily be exaggerated.