1.
GV PAN..B-52 takes off.
0.12

2.
AIR TO AIR SHOT..B-52 in flight.
0.17

3.
TOP AIR TO AIR SHOT..ditto, shows dummy missiles (nearest to fuselage).
0.25

4.
FRONT AIR TO AIR SHOT..ditto.
0.35



Initials PC/V-O/MR/PB


EDITORS: SEE ALSO PROD NO'S 0275/0280 UNVEILING OF SKYBOLT MISSILE

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The first aerial test of the air-to-ground missile "Skybolt" took place January 12 in Wichita, Kansas, when a United States B-52 bomber took off with replicas of four of the new missiles under its wings.

Officials said that the plane - fully instrumented to check the stresses of the wing structures, the 30-foot dummy missiles and the pylons holding them under the wings - was in the air for five hours and cruised at various speeds and altitudes over Kansas and Oklahoma.

When the actual "Skybolt" missiles become operational, early in 1964, they will extend the striking range of the American Strategic Air Command's B-52 more than 1,000 miles beyond its own considerable range of over ten thousand.

Within 30 to 60 days, drop tests will take place to ascertain how the dummy missiles - exact in weight and dimensions but not nuclearly armed - behave in release and free fall.

Britain will be buying the "Skybolt" from America when it becomes available. It is also designed for the Royal Air Force's Vulcan bomber and will replace the abandoned "Blue Streak" rocket.