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• September 20, 2016 Create Date
• September 20, 2016 Last Updated

Second Guided Missiles Seminar - Guidance and Control

Men have long been concerned with the
defense of their national rescurces and their
national. way of life against the possible
encroachment of a potential attacker. Mili-
tary forces have been continually designed,
developed, organized, and then modified to
counter the increasing threat imposed by
technological advance and by the changing
social structure of the world in which we
live. The function of these military forces
has been to deter any potential attacker from

In the realm of modern military affairs
we continue to desire an ever increasing
capability to satisfy our defense needs, and
no one, 1 believe, would argue against the
fundamental wisdom of seeking this increased
capability. The margin of superiority in the
performance of our weapons, for example,
the range, speed, altitude, and payload capa-
bilities of our airplanes compared with those
of a potential enemy may spell the difference
between victory and defeat in a possible
future conflict. What we often fail to appre-
ciate is that the increased capability we need
and strive to achieve is purchased at the cost
of an increased complexity of the equipment
and organization that results.

The consequence of this increased com—
plexity is to require an ever larger expend-
iture of our national resources to achieve
adequate levels of defense effectiveness.
The resources that we have at our disposal
are always limited and have very real
alternative uses. Fissionable material ex-
pended in the construction of bombs cannotbe
used for the generation of electric power.
Manpower committed to the maintenance of
the military forces cannot be used in any
productive capacity in the national economy.
A difficult problem exists in aChieving and
maintaining an adequate level of defense
effectiveness with a minimal drain on our
national rescurces.

The modern implements of warfare are an
order of magnitude more complex and more
expensive than their predecessors of a few
years ago. The increased range, greater
speed, and higher altitude of our bombers has
resulted in the need' for better navigational
aids, bombing and fire control mechanisms,
and communication equipment; also longer
runways, more highly trained aircrews, and
more extensive maintenance and repair or-
ganizations.