DEFENSE: Airplane Slowdown

Shortly before the Air Force stirred up the Senate Armed Forces Subcommittee and the nation last year with reports that Soviet Bear and Bison bombers were rolling off assembly lines faster than Boeing B-525, Defense Secretary Charles E. Wilson had given signs of being stirred up himself. Wilson called for a step-up' in 6-52 production (then about six a month) from the goal of 17 airplanes a month to 20. Last week, declaring that U.S. Intelligence had overrated Soviet production, Charlie Wilson ordered 6-52 production stepped down from the theoretical 20 to 15.

There were some advantages, Wilson explained, to the stretch-out. Now undergoing tests is an improved 6-52. By stretching out production of the 6-52, the Air Force will be loaded down with fewer old models as new types come off the line. And scheduled for production by next year is the Convair 6-58 Hustler, once considered a replacement for the medium-range 6-47, now so successful in tests that it may even be a long-range rival to the 6-52—at lower cost.

More difficult to explain was an order cutting back the production goal on the Boeing KC-135 jet tanker from 20 to 15 a month. Today's Air Force is seriously weakened by a shortage of jet tankers (now being delivered at a crawl of two or three a month), could well stand the higher production rate until the Air Force jet-tanker fleet is brought up to strength.