European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 15, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday March 15, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 5 of Navy to develop 2 jets together Washington a the air Force and Navy citing the need to control costs announced plans thurs Day to cooperate in developing a new generation of stealth fighters and ground attack jets for the 1990s. I think we Are talking about saving billions of dollars Over the period of the 80s and 90s," undersecretary of defense Donald a. Hicks told a Pentagon news Confer ence. Hicks flanked by Navy Secretary John f. Lehman or. And air Force Secretary Russell Rourke said the two services would each develop one main aircraft suited to their needs for the 1990s and Early 21st Century. Each would use a variant of the other s plane. This is a very different Way of doing business than has been done in this building for the last 30 years said Lehman. We will be in a word in each other s knickers in terms of How we Progress Early in the game said Rourke. Navy specialists will consult in the development of the new air Force air superiority Jet the advanced technology fighter at. Air Force experts will play a similar role in designing a Navy surface attack plane the advanced technology air plane Stathe officials said. The Effort to cooperate has been spelled out in a special memorandum signed by Lehman and Rourke. It said officials from the two services will begin working together in no less than 30 Days. Rourke cited these extraordinary budget times and the fiscal environment that exists on the Capitol Hill As key ingredients in spurring the new attempt at cooperation. The agreement was announced at a time when con Gressional leaders have told the president he is unlikely to win the 11.9 percent military spending increase re Quested for fiscal 1987. Some legislators have warned that new weapons programs such As the fighter and attack planes May be delayed because of the new balanced budget Law. The air Force intends the at to replace its f-15 fighter by the mid-1990s, and the Navy is designing the Ata to replace its aging Fleet of a-6 Low level attack bombers. But the Navy will also need a new fighter during the next decade and the air Force a new attack plane making it imperative that both the Navy and the air Force thoroughly examine potential Cross service applications the memo states. The Navy could use a variant of the air Force at to replace the f-14s used to defend ships at sea and the air Force could use a version of the Navy s Ata to replace the full a Long Range air to surface strike plane. Using a variant of the at As a Navy fighter and an Ata variant for air Force ground attack missions the Pentagon would be developing two rather than four All new air planes saving up to 80 percent on development costs Hicks said. Additionally both the air Force and the Navy expect to rely on More than one contractor to manufacture the two Basic designs and will take the most competitive bid for each year s purchases. It would be impossible for the air Force and the Navy to use the same Basic plane As their mainstays said Hicks because the missions of air superiority for the air Force and deep strike attack for the Navy Are totally the Way you would design a plane for one just can t be used to make an air plane that is efficient for the other he said. Both the at and the Ata will employ stealth technology designed to make them less visible to enemy radar Hicks said but details of their design and capabilities will remain secret. The air Force has set a target of $35 million for the at and the Navy plans to spend about the same on its plane the officials said. The Navy plans to buy 450 Ata attack planes and about 550 at variants and the air Force wants 750 ats and an undisclosed number of Ata variants the officials said. Demands Aid for contras Reagan sees irreparable disaster arms captured from rebels in Al Salvador. A photo Washington up president Reagan thurs Day toured a display of weapons supplied to leftist guerrillas by Nicaragua and said if Congress does not act now to Stop communism irreparable disaster will result in Cen trial America. After hearing statements from a former salvadoran guerrilla a sandinista defector and a nicaraguan Indian jailed by the nicaraguan government Reagan said he wished All of Congress could see the evidence before the House votes next week on his $100 million Aid request for the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. The display was set up in the lobby of the state depart ment and Reagan said it would be sent to Capitol Hill next week. Beyond nicaraguan subversion of its neighbors Rea Gan said this nation too is threatened. If we Don t act now. Americans will in the not too Distant future look to and see a string of anti american communist dictatorships and if that happens it will do no Good to ask who s to blame. It will be an irreparable asking Congress to set aside partisan politics and act now to protect our National Security Reagan accused the nicaraguan government of conducting a Well managed Campaign of lies distortion and just As we be been told Here by the witnesses disinformation. The masters of deceit have outdone themselves Rea Gan said. But americans can and will see through this smokescreen. The communist goal is to paralyse us to prevent us from doing what is necessary to save Central America. But they will not succeed he said. Reagan was shown a display of soviet chinese czech and american weapons seized while being smuggled to leftist guerillas in Al Salvador and Honduras. He was guided by former salvadoran rebel Napoleon romeros who at one Point held up a mortar sight to show Reagan. Reagan said in an interview published thursday he May ask Congress for additional Money for the nicaraguan contras beyond the $100 million he already is seeking if the rebels and the sandinista government have not begun negotiations within 18 months. In an interview wednesday with the Baltimore Sun Reagan said the 18 months Worth of military Aid he wants to give the contras May not be enough to accomplish american Aims in Nicaragua and he May have to ask Congress for additional funds. The key will be whether the rebels and the sandinista have begun negotiations. The president also said he might favor Early deployment of his Star wars space defense shield before the entire system is developed providing it is feasible and arrange ments can be worked out with . Allies and the soviet Union. . Reportedly ready to train contras Washington a if president Reagan s request for military Aid to nicaraguan rebels is approved by Congress the administration would be prepared to use . Military advisers to train the contras in the use of weapons Pentagon sources said thursday. The sources who insisted on anonymity said the administration probably would Grant a request by the Contra rebels to share .-gathered intelligence information on the location of nicaraguan forces. One source stressed that . Troops or military advisers would not be allowed to operate inside Nicaragua. It is absolutely ridiculous to think we have anything in mind other than a very limited number of . People at some location outside Nicaragua that is Safe at which we can show them How to use the equipment said another source. But As for a request for training conceptually that is something that we would want to do he said. The defense department and Central intelligence Agency Are banned from provid ing any intelligence information military training or lethal equipment to the Contra guerrillas under the terms of a Law that authorized $27 million Worth of humanitarian assistance last year. President Reagan is lobbying however to obtain congressional authorization for military Aid to the contras. He has asked for $100 Mil lion of which $70 million would entail military assistance. Defense Secretary Caspar w. Wein Berger has hinted in recent congressional testimony that train ing for the contras was a possibility but Weinberger administration officials have refused to discuss what Type of Aid is being planned. On thursday though one defense department source said it was almost a fore gone conclusion that if the president gets what he wants from Congress there will be some training by our a second High ranking official at the Pentagon refused to be so categorical but agreed the defense department was pre pared to offer such training. The fact is we have no request for training assistance the source said. But if the president were authorized the unrestricted funding we can see a situation where the contras would receive weaponry and might need a limited amount of train ing on How to use the the United states at one time provided Covert training and military equipment to the Contra guerrillas through the Cia. Military assistance was barred by Congress in 1984. Last year Only non lethal Aid was approved. As for the sharing of intelligence information the contras Are fighting with one hand tied behind their Back by not having Access to intelligence information one source said adding the administration is interested in correcting that situation. The sources refused to say whether the Pentagon already has selected areas where contras could be trained in the use of shoulder fired missiles or other weapons. The United states has been using areas within neighbouring Honduras for military exercises As a warning to Nicaragua Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. March 15, 1946 peace teams rep resenting the United states and nationalist and communist China were rushed to Manchuria where 50,000 communist troops have moved. 30 years ago today March 15, 1956 the British prime minister in London defended the deportation of archbishop Makarios and said the Only pledge Britain Ever sought from him was a denouncement of terrorism on Cyprus. 20 years ago foday. March 15, 1966 a Public opinion poll by Stanford University and the univer sity of Chicago shows heavy support for president Johnson s Vietnam policies. 10 years ago today. March 15, 1976 four Black mus lims were convicted of murder and All other charges stemming from the so called Zebra random killings of Whites that terrorized san Francisco two years ago
