WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON December 26, 1941 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT: SUBJECT: VICTORY PROGRAM. The Victory Program is now on its way to becoming a reality. The Office of Production Management and Supply Priorities and Allocations Board estimate that the total munitions production potential of the country for the year 1942 is approximately 40 billion dollars. Of this 40 billion dollars, 27 billion dollars of munitions are already scheduled. We intend to increase this schedule to the limit of the country's poten- tial, that is, another 13 billion dollars worth of munitions. An adequate carry-over into the year 1943 will be assured by certain measures which are now in process in the War Department and which are described below. The War Department is at present expediting estimates for an appropriation of approximately 12 billion dollars for aircraft and its accessory equipment. It is anticipated that this money will be made available during January. This sum will insure that scheduled aircraft production rates will not only be maintained but will be increased through 1942 and 1943. To illustrate, it will permit the construction of new and converted facilities for heavy bombers suffi- cient to increase the production rate of this class of aircraft from 775 to 1,000 a month. The War Department is also preparing new estimates for sub- mission to Congress early in January to cover additional munitions other than aircraft. By expeditious action both in the War Department and Congress, a sum of approximately 14 billion dollars for munitions other than aircraft and about 3 billions for expediting production can be made available during January for subsequent releases to industry. The estimates referred to in the preceding paragraphs will, with the funds appropriated by the Congress for Army equipment on December 17, 1941, aggregate about 33 billion dollars which should be translated into contracts and taken over by industry in the early months of 1942. The breakdown of this vast sum into the general categories comprising the proposed expenditures for munitions is shown in Inclosure 1. Whereas these categories are expressed in terms of |