Abstract: Belted pneumatic tires, each belt ply of which includes both metallic and non-metallic cords interspersed with one another and of which the non-metallic cords are made of a material having a relatively high modulus generally of the same order of magnitude as that of the metal, are disclosed. In a preferred arrangement, each belt ply has steel wire cords arranged in a 1:1 alternating sequence with glass fiber cords. The sequence can be varied by having successive metal wire cords separated by two or more non-metallic cords, or by having successive pairs or greater numbers of metal cords separated by one, two or more non-metallic cords, and so forth. The use in tires of belts of such cords, eliminates tire wear and failure due to buckling and birdcaging of belts formed solely from non-metallic tire cords.