ON -30- so for all practicalpurposes with respect to ordinary bombs .! IV. Superiority in air forces, though a more: effective safeguard in itself than superiority in naval or land forces, nevertheNis-£4i1s to guarantee security. This proposition is obviously true in the case of very long range rockets, but let us continue to limit our discussion to existing carriers. In his Third Report to the Secretary of War, dated November 12, 195, General EH. H. Arnold, commanding the Army Air Forces, made the following statement: "Meanwhile i.e., until very long range rockets are developed], the only known effective means of delivering atomic bombs in their present stage of development is the very heavy bomber, and that is certain of success only when the user has air superiority"1° This writer feels no inclination to question General Arnold's authority on matters pertaining to air combat tactics. However, it is pertinent to ask just what the phrase "certain of success" means in the sentence just quoted, or rather, how much certainty of success is necessary for each individual bomb before .an atomic bomb attack is considered feasible. In this respect one gains some insight into what is in General Arnold's mind from a sentence which occurs somewhat earlier on the same page in the Report: "Further, the great unit cost of the atomic bomb means that as nearly as possible every one must be delivered to its intended target." Here is obviously the major premise upon which the con- clusion above quoted is based, and one is not disputing General Arnold's judgment in the field of his own specialization by examining a premise which lies wholly outside of it, 17. Colonel Clarence S. Irvine, who commanded the plane which flew non-stop from Guam to Washington, was reported by the press as declaring that one of the objects of the flight was "to show the vulnerability of our country to enemy air attack from vast distamees." New York Times, November 21, 1945, p. 1. 18, See printed edition of the Report, p. 68. In the sentence following the one quoted, General Arnold adds that this statement is "perhaps true only temporarily," but it is apparent from the context that the factor he has in mind which might terminate its "truthfulness" is the development of rockets comparable to the V~2 put of much longer range. The present discussion is not concerned with rockets at all, ae