Soviet rocketry claims On November 19, Artillery Day in the Soviet Union, a number of radio and press announcements referred to the capabilities of Soviet rockets. In an article in Red Star, Chief Marshal of Artillery Sergei Varentsov, commander of Soviet rocket forces and artillery, said that "the fire-power of the Soviet armed forces has now attained a higher level than before." He stressed the tremendous role of rocket weapons with powerful atomic and thermo-nuclear warheads in this attainment. "We must strengthen our defences, create powerful weapons, be vigilant and in a constant state of combat readiness." Referring to the November 7 parade in Moscow and the rockets that were shown there, Varentsov added: "It is quite obvious that only certain samples of Soviet rocket weapons were shown at the parade. Our armed forces have plenty of other, much bigger rockets too…" Rockets have become now the main weapons of all the Soviet armed forces. Our rocket troops posses great power and mobility, and are able to manoeuvre quickly and with great precision, regardless of weather and climate conditions." Red Star also printed an interview with Col-Gen of Artillery Kuleshov, who said that, Moscow and the majority of large cities in the Soviet Union had a powerful rocket and radar defence and a network of fighter aerodromes. Jet noise ombudsman In a recent adjournment debate of some 2.5 hours on noise (the first on this subject since June 1960), MPs whose constituencies are affected by jet noise made some effective points. Mr Royle (Cons Richmond) thought that much more could be done by the Minister to improve public relations, and he asked the Minister to consider the appointment of a special commissioner - preferably a senior civil servant - with responsibilities within the Ministry for co-ordinating aircraft noise research and information, and to publicise efforts by the Government on this issue. Such an official would receive public complaints, play a important part in running the noise monitoring system, and issue details of what the Ministry was doing. Mr Royle wanted to know what penalties had been exacted from pilots and airlines involved in breaches of the height regulations during the past 12 months. "We have never been able to discover this from the Ministry," said Mr Royle. Mr Dudley Smith (Cons, Brentford and Chiswick) supported the idea of an Ombudsman for noise, and thought that the Ministry ought to publish the results of regular monitoring.
Source: Flight International