Airplanes and lighter-than-air craft: authorized number

§ 7341. Airplanes and lighter-than-air craft: authorized number (a) The President may acquire, construct, or manufacture naval airplanes, spare parts, and equipment necessary to provide and maintain 15,000 useful naval airplanes. However, if in the judgment of the Secretary of the Navy the number of airplanes authorized in this section is insufficient to meet the needs of the national defense, the Secretary may, with the approval of the President, make such plans for procurement as the situation demands. 454 (b) The President may acquire, construct, or manufacture lighter-than-air craft, spare parts, and equipment necessary to provide and maintain 200 useful lighter-than-air craft. (c) In this section “useful naval airplanes” or “useful lighter-than-air craft” means those airplanes or lighter-than-air craft, as the case may be, on the Navy list that are. or after reasonable repair can be made, in all respects safe to fly and fitted to take part in active military operations in time of war. The terms exclude those airplanes or aircraft classified as experimental or, with the approval of the Secretary, declared obsolete.