May 17 1965
From The Space Library
Britain and France signed an agreement to jointly build two supersonic military aircraft for the 1970s: (1) a strike trainer; and (2) a pivoting-wing attack plane. The strike trainer, to be based on France's twin-engine Breguet 121, would be built by the British Aircraft Corp, in cooperation with the Société des Ateliers d'Aviation Louis Breguet. Rolls Royce, Ltd., and Turbomeca, a French engine concern, would supply the engines. The variable sweep wing, aircraft similar to the American F-111 fighter-bomber, but smaller, would be based on the concept of British aircraft designer Dr. Barnes Wallis and built by the British Aircraft Corp, and the Societe Generale Aeronautique Marcelle Dassault. The agreement committed each country to an initial expenditure of $56 million, most of which would be spent on a prototype for the strike trainer. (Farnsworth, NYT, 5/18/65, 8)
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center had awarded a $1,600,000 contract to Aero Spacelines, Inc., to transport Saturn upper stages and outsize rocket components in its modified Boeing Stratocruiser, Pregnant Guppy. The contract would run through June 1966. (MSFC Release 65-123)
Aviation Week reported: "NASA is considering the possibility of launching two manned Gemini spacecraft within a few days of each other so that the two would operate concurrently in space for a day or two," Noting that the plan was not yet approved, the item speculated that such action would probably not take place until late in the Gemini program. Since only one Gemini launch stand existed, it was most likely that the second vehicle would be erected and checked out first, then stored until the first had flown. (Av. Wk., 5/17/65, 23)
Robert Hotz said in an editorial in Aviation Week and Space Technology: "With each passing year it becomes more and more apparent that the Soviets agreed to the partial nuclear test ban treaty at a time most advantageous to them and most disadvantageous to us. The Soviets already had tested their nuclear warheads over the entire spectrum-from underwater devices to 50-megaton air bursts including live ICBM warheads. The U.S. had not tested any of its nuclear warheads in strategic systems and can only theorize about the effects that high-altitude nuclear blasts in the 50-megaton-and-up range will have on communications and control networks of silo-based ICBMs and other strategic systems, "Mr. McNamara has based his defense policy on the belief that he will be able to detect any new Soviet weapons development in time to develop a U.S. counter-measure before the Russians can become operational with their new force. Since several of the new Soviet ICBMs and an anti-ICBM shown in recent Red Square parades came as a complete surprise to the Western intelligence community, it would appear that this assumption by Mr. McNamara is open to serious challenge, History may prove that Mr. McNamara's view of the time span available for the U.S. to counter-develop weapons to thwart a Soviet challenge is as wrong as his forecasts of the war in Vietnam." (Av, Wk, 5/17/65, 21)
"The Soviet Union, with its May 9 display of missile and space might, has dealt a major blow to the complacency of those persons in the United States who consistently have underestimated the competence of the Russians in these fields," wrote William J. Coughlin in an editorial in Missiles and Rockets, He continued: "The appearance of Soviet solid-fuel missiles of a type similar to the U.S. Minuteman ICBM indicates that the Soviets finally have overcome the chemical roadblock which until now has made possible the U.S. lead in solids... . "In a film which the Moscow correspondent of the New York Times estimated to be at least three years old, the Soviets also displayed launchings from an underground silo. The combination of these events suggests the Soviets now are in a position to rapidly close the missile gap with the United States to the point where it is of no consequence in military calculations... "In the film release, the Russians for the first time showed their anti-missile missile in action, One sequence was of intercept of an ICBM, , "The increasing Soviet confidence also is indicated in the space field. The Soviets let it be known more than a month in advance that their next space spectacular could be expected May 9. . . The launch of LUNIK V obviously was right on schedule. The acknowledgement after launch but in advance of impact that its goal was a lunar soft landing also is a more realistic approach to space developments than previously shown. "This shift toward a franker attitude is supported by the open admission of the Zond II Mars probe failure by Soviet scientists attending the Space Exploration Symposium in Chicago on May 4. "At the same time, the Russians released more information on the Soviet space program at the Chicago meeting than heretofore, "All of this points toward greater maturity in both Soviet missile programs and Soviet space programs. The competition therefore is far keener than many persons in the U.S. have been willing to admit, "The conclusion is clear. The U.S. cannot afford to let down or it will be far outdistanced in areas which will continue to be vital in its national security and well-being for many, many years." (Coughlin, M&R, 5/17/65, 74)
Communist China's second nuclear bomb was the warhead on a missile launched from a military base and detonated in the air after traveling an undisclosed distance, asserted the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbum. The bomb was exploded May 14 over Western China. (, Wash. Daily News, 5/17/65, 18)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
