COMMITTEE ON OVERHEAD RECONNAISSANCE (W/ATTACHMENTS)

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
0001041095
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RIPPUB
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U
Document Page Count: 
18
Document Creation Date: 
June 24, 2015
Document Release Date: 
July 26, 2011
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Case Number: 
F-2004-00648
Publication Date: 
July 8, 1966
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The following is an index of the minutes of t4e 8 JUly COMOR meeting: Paragraph 1-4 Paragraph 5-7 Paragraph 8 Paragraph 9 Paragraph 10 Paragraph 11-12 Paragraph 13 Paragraph 14- 15 Paragraph 16-17 Paragraph 18 Paragraph 19 Paragraph 20 Paragraph 21 Paragraph 22 (b)(1) A (b)(3) ssessment of Special GMAIC Mission, 1033 J (b)(6) Report on In-Flight Processing Report from NPIC - Mission Highlights Approval of Minutes Approval of Requirement (COMOR-D- 9 32, paragraphs 48-52) Need for Revision of SIGINT Satellite Reconnaissance (COMOR-D-69/32) Community Need, for Color Photography from Report from Photo Working Group APPROVED FOR RELEASEL DATE: 06-Jul-2011 Operational Briefing Satellite Operational Briefing Aircraft Operational Briefing Drone Decontrol of TALENT Photography of the Middle East (COMOR -D-22 / 81) Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy Requirements Mapping & Charting Amendment to Requirements for KH-9 Photographic Reconnaissance System (COMOR-D-13/63) IDEALIST CORONA/ opy o 3 -TbpifE~ CORONA IDEA LIS T COMMITTEE ON OVERHE AD RECONNA ISSA NCE COMOR-M- 8 July 196 372 (Continued) 6. Paragraph 23 Need to Review D ase on Chin a Paragraph 24 Discussion of Ac tions Needed. in Co njunct ion with Paragraph Long Range Pap 25 DIA Comments o North Vietnam C er n Status of South C overage hina/ IDEALIST CORONA/ ET CORONA/ IDEALIST ) Minutes of Meeting COMOR-M-372 Central Intelligence Agency, Langley 1000-1315, 8 July 1966 William A. Tidwell Chairman MEMBERS PRESENT Col. D. H. Ainsworth, DIA Capt. B. L. Garbow, ONI Deputy .Chairman Lt. Col. R. L. De Rose, AFNIN Mr. L. A. Moyer, Jr., State Mr_ T. E T.ihhPrt NSA Capt. P. H. Faircloth, DIA Mr. J. C. St. Cyr, OACSI CONSULTANTS PRESENT Lt. Col. J. T. Connelly, NSA Capt. NRO* Col. H. Howard, NRO Lt. Col. W. C. Barger. NP IC Mr. C. E. Duckett, CIA* Mr. A. J. Steele, CIA*' Mr. H. Channing, Executive Secretary Mr. E. E. Donelson, O/Chairman, COMDR Mr. H. E. Rhoads, Chairman, Photo Working Group Lt. Col. T. J. Shepherd, Chairman, SIGINT, Working Group* *Present for part of the meeting. Assessment of Special GMAIC Mission, 1033J 1. Mr. Duckett introduced discussion of the special GMAIC mission by noting some of the drawbacks. He commented that the IDEALIST CORONA/ CORONA IDEALIST quality of the photography proved to be marginal for GMAIC purposes. While it. was possible to assess activity, as shown later, such important information. as the classes of vehicles at a site could not be determined. Mr. Duckett added that although GMAIC thought that it had done extensive advance planning to.assist NPIC inits readout, it .was -found .in retrospect that the planning had not,.been. adequate and a much.severer task had been. imposed on NPIC than had originally been envisaged. The Chairman, GMAIC concluded his. introductory remarks by commenting that the various working groups of GMAIC are now embarked on. an. exploitation in depth. To complete this job to the satisfaction of GMAIC will probably take approximately three months. This. time could be shortened.if it were necessary to complete the assessment on a forced draft basis. Mr. Duckett next referred to the plus side and reported that the potential of such. a mission, when. properly planned and assessed, is tremendous. As. illustrated; below, higher resolution .would generally enhance the .results. Pertinent comments- are: a. Missions of this nature have a potential to.identify every launch facility at a test site and if flown:. with a higher resolution camera should permit the analyst to associate each facility with specific missiles. b. Repetitive cover IDEALIS CORONA 3. The Chairman, GMAIC showed some examples of the photography obtained by .1033) and explained highlights as follows: (1) We may have precise identification of the pad used for COSMOS launches. CORONA CORONA C.(17~~rnu 4. In reply to a question from the Chairman, COMOR, Mr. Duckett speculated that GMAIC may wish to have another similar mission using the KH-7. He added that he will need at least a month and much more study of 1033) before reaching a ~1Pri G;nn In reply to a question from Mr. Duckett confirmed that 1033) has been extremely expensive i terms of PI time. While experience may improve techniques on later missions, he does not hold out any great hope for drastic improvements.. in this regard. Report on Infli ht Processing r pursuant to ta in ig t processing question and demonstrated a number of studied alternatives. The alternative methods of handling and the hours required for processed and preliminarily analyzed film to reach Washingtom.from Hawaii ranged from: A present example showing 80 hours consumed; IDEALIST , CORONA CORONA COMOR-M-.372 A streamlined version of the present procedure showing a reduction to 40 hours; The situation presently envisaged with. inflight processing and PI facilities onboard consuming.12 hours. then described various methods used in the systems analysis as well as standards to which would have to .adhere. An important standard from the standpoint of COMOR is that there will be absolutely no compromise of film quality and actually in some .respects there will be improvements. 6. I noted that the system studies. and the con- struction of all critical operational breadboard exercises are due to be completed by March 1967. The specific recommendation as to use should be made by July 1967. Studies conducted so far point toward: a. Assurance of total. feasibility that an airborne processing and exploitation center, permanently installed in a C135B or C141 aircraft, can provide a. fully processed, collated, and a partially analysed original negative- and duplicate positive in Washington at the end of the nine-hour non-stop -flight from Hawaii. b. A capability from commencement of flash, reporting -- th s after takeoff from recovery C. A resultant goal for a QRC processing capability anywhere in the world. 7. In reply to some questions from the Chairman, emphasized that the work being done is providing quite significant fringe benefits.. Viscous processing is among these, and this along with other improvements will directly result in some streamlining and product improvement ove~ present procedures. Mr. Tidwell then thanked for his briefing, while commenting that COMDR need study the whole problem further and that such study must include other ideas that NRO has toward solving the crisis management problems. IDEALIST CORONA) TOP'S~CRE~ CORONA IDEA LIST Report from NPIC--Mission Highlights COMO - -372 8. Colonel Barger briefed COMOR on recent photographic highlights. He commented that an early evaluation of .1034J.indicated that much of the photography was, below CORONA standard. Approval of Minutes 9. COMOR-M-371 was approved with the following changes: a. Page 9, paragraph 20, in line 8, change "suggested that" to "reviewed.the, ". delete "be, " change "to" at end of line to "of"; and.in line 9 at end of sentence after "NPIC" add "initially. " b. Page 9, paragraph 21, in line 4 after "that" add "if there is" and after "information" add "it. " Approval o ~2equirement .10. The Chairman, SIGINT Working Group submitted for COMOR consideration an amendment to Part III, Section C: COMINT requirements, paragraphs 48-52, COMOR-D-69/32. Colonel Shepherd advised members that this represents. an amendment to the current equirement. He noted that it achieves the following: a. More clearly defines. the desired radio frequency coverage by redwing that coverage from b. Re-defines location accuracies which will permit more efficient use of the information acquired. COMOR approved the revised requirement Ithe revise requirement.is being sent to holders of COMOR-D-69/32/. CORONA GT TOP CORONA IDEALIST Need for Revision of SIGINT Satellite Requirements (COMOR.D=6'9/ 32) C OMOR=M=32 Following a brief discussion. of.the proposed revision. to the requirement-..as it now appears... in COMOR-D-69/32 (paragraph 10 above), Mr. Libbert observed. that a complete review of 69/32, would be a. lengthy job. He noted, however, that a redefinition .of the EOB requirement (COMOR-D-6.9/50), is, due and should be made on a priority basis and incorporated in COMOR=D-69/32. Mr. Libbert ..feels that Colonel Hall joins him in this sentiment. Colonel. Shepherd observed that by now C OMOR-D-69/32 is a.wo.rn=out document which needs. a complete review. Piecemeal corrections, and suggestions have tended to confuse rather than edify the collector. Colonel Howard en- dorsed. Colonel Shepherd's sentiments and stated that NRO would welcome a new SIGINT satellite requirements .paper, 12. After cautioning the SIGINT Working Group that recommen- dations of the CETF could of themselves result .in considerable revision and redefinition of COMOR-D..69/32, the Chairman acquiesced in. suMestion that further discussion of the need for revision ntil the COMOR meeting on 15 July. Community Need for Color Photography from 13. The Chairman defined the problem before COMOR as. to whether members wish the 12 color duplicate positives to be disseminated automatically or whether .three should be delivered immediately to NPIC and others would be ordered depending on the NPIC evaluation of -the take. DIA elected not to wait for the evaluation .and requested simultaneous dis- semination with. the black and.white film on the basis of one for DIA and .one: for SAC. Colonel DeRose. then expressed his preference..for the same procedure to be followed in transmittal of one to the -training school at Offutt and one for FTD. /Mr. St. Cyr called.after the. meeting to say.,that the Army would like..immediate dissemination of one color duplicate posi- tive to SPAD and one to MID./ CORONA CORONA IDEALIS' Report from Photo Working Group 72 14. Mr. Rhoads, reported PWG activities. as. follows: a. (1) Cuba The Cuba target .file was updated based on six GOLDEN TREE missions flown during June. As a result.of this. review, 4 targets were added and 6 targets were inactivated. The file now contains. 172 targets. (2) The highest priority.list for Cuba, consisting of objectives that are maintained in . the satellite reconnaissance file, was reviewed and no changes. were made. The file contains. a total of.23 targets. (3) A table showing cumulative coverage of Cuba obtained. by GOLDEN TREE missions is attached as. Tab A. b. South China/North Vietnam (1) A draft.report of photographic reconnaissance of South China/North.Vietnam and the Sino-Indian border area during 28 June- 4 July 1966 was pre ed and approved for trans- mittal to the Board .7 (2) The South China and North Vietnam priorities list. .was reviewed. No changes were made to the priorities list which contains 177 targets. c. Update Camera Priorities forj Adjustments were made in camera priorities or ased on current intelligence. Inasmuch as e. last por ion of this mission will utilize color film, some additional adjustments in camera priorities could be necessary if a change in expected mission duration occurs. CORONA/ IDEALIST TOF-SK-REfi 15. In reply to a question from the Chairman, Mr. Rhoads assured Mr. Tidwell that PWG and NRO had been working closely to bring priorities upto date and coordinate the use of color film. Operational Briefing-Satellite 16. Colonel Howard submitted a summary of SIGINT satellite operations for. the period 27 June to 3 July (Tab B) and reported satellite launches and scheduling as follows: CORONA 10.34 Launched 21 June 66/2130Z. Standard CORONA (800, 10th day sync), First bucket recovered 26 June 66/2350Z. Second bucket recovered 1 July 66/2352Z. 1035 e R-9 July 66. Launch September. 1036 -R-9 .12 July. (THORAD) Launch. date -2 August. ELINT (Sub-satellite launched. from l7. egoing schedule, Colonel Howard explained tha had been droppe ecause the package had not checked out satisfactorily. IDEALIST CORONA/ :IDEALIST CORONA decision need be made as. to whether.. flying. the experiment. might be incompatible with flying Operational Briefing-Aircraft 18. reported that. thel Lare still .grounded. Estimates. of earliest operational availability .are. late July. System XVII tests were completed on. 30 June. Operational Briefing-Drone .19. Captain Faircloth reported BLUE SPRING$ activities .for _the period ..1-7 July as follows: Date Mission No. Target/Area Remarks 1,July 66 5.155 (high) Haiphong, Hanoi, -Drone did not Phuc Yen and SonTay; return;cause undetermined 2 July 66 5155 (high) same as above CNX. WX 552Q (low) Hanoi/Phu lang. RR, Successful Hanoi Area, and .MARS.Recvy. Son Tay 3 July 66 None Scheduled Unfavorable WX 4 July 66 5520.(low) same as above CNX WX 5 July 6.6 None. Scheduled Unfawxable WX 6 July 66 5157 (high) Viet-T.ri POL, Successful Hanoi/ Lao .Cai RR, . MARS: Recvy Hanoi & Haiphong Areas 7 July 66 None Scheduled 8 July 66 5158 (high) Unfavorable WX Hanoi Area & Hanoi Probably shot. Lao Cai RR down IDEALIST CORONA 1DP-3fERfT__ CORONAL IDEALIST C()Mt1R -lur-372 Decontrol of TALENT Photography of the Middle East .20. COMOR reviewed the SDWG proposal that certain . photog- raphy;- of the Middle East obtained by U-2 overflight in the period 1.956 to 1960 be designated SANDBOX missions and decontrolled. The SDWG proposal. wa approved and it was agreed. that it would be forwarded M the llnit&rl States Intelligence Board for noting Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy Requirements 21. COMOR reviewed the requirements as forwarded by the mapping, Charting, and Geodesy Working .Group Minor changes were reviewed and agreed. to by mem ers, and the .Chairman reported.that he hoped. the paper could be scheduled for the USIB meeting on 14 July so that it may be considered at the same time .sent tote Board as COMOR-D_ 13165. Mapping and Charting Amendment to Requirements for KH-9 Photographic Reconnaissance System' (COMOR-D-13/63) 22. COMOR approved an amendment to paragraph Ig as submitted by DIA and agreed. that it be forwarded to the USIB Secretariat. Need to Review Data Base on China (COMDR-D-25/204) 23. The Chairman referred to .the 25 February -1966 meeting of the United States Intelligence Board and noted that it had approved the recommendation of an ad hoc group that "in six months' time COMOR, with the assistance of appropriate representatives of the interested agencies, review the status. d. adequacy of the data base on China", . Mr. Tidwell advised members agenda of the next meeting for further discussion. IDEALISTI CORONA CORONA IDEALIS Discussion. of Actions Needed in Conjunction with ~COMOR-M x372 Ong Range Paper 24. The Chairmanadvised members. that he had recently L been. reminded that COMOR has a further obligation to report on the need, for high resolution photography. Mr. Tidwell 'observed -that in its recent efforts to meet 'problems associated with the long range paper on. a. piecemeal basis, some similar oblicrations may have been bypassed. The Chairman requested to. expedite their work on the long range paper with. particular emphasis. on. such .topics . not yet covered .as meaning of and need for higher resolution, electronic data linac; the use of radar, etc. Executive Secretary Committee on Overhead Reconnaissance ADDENDUM: Attachments: Tabs A and B CORONA ivy &E R-CT COMOR-M-372 Tab A 8 July 1966 MEMORANDUM FOR: Chairman, COMOR SUBJECT: Status Report on Cumulative Area Coverage of Cuba The following tabulation presents the status of GOLDEN TREE__ coverage of Cuba, current as of Mission 8105, 6 July 1966: Date Number of Missions Percent Coverage 14 May - 6 July 12 18 May - 6 July 11 20 May - 6 July 10 24 May - 6 July 9 5 June - 6 July 8 10 June - 6 July 7 11 June - 6 July 6 14 June - 6 July 5 17 June - 6 July 4 23 June - 6 July 3 1 July - 6 July 2 6 July 1 Chairman 100 99 99 98 98 97 96 96 89 71 48 40 COMOR Photo Working Group Group I Excluded from automatic down- grading and declassification H O 0 U CORONA IDEALIS