ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the possibilities for conversion in the defence industries and shows what has actually been achieved in comparable circumstances. Alternatives to the wasteful policy of maintaining a high level of expenditure do exist; the problem of their implementation is one of planning and organization. Converting military industrial capacity cannot be left to chance. The measures needed to ensure the smooth transition of resources from military to non-military production are basically the same as those required to solve the economic crisis. A party and a Government committed to planning the general direction of the economy, and to controlling important sectors, should find nothing especially daunting in the task of planning to convert the defence sector. The objective is to plan for conversion so that workers no longer make armaments which are no longer wanted by society. The major military aerospace project for Britain at present is the development of the multi-role combat aircraft, the Tornado.
