ORD REPORT CARD - STATUS OF THE LSR/ORD AVIAN PROGRAM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Animal Partners
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06527441
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: September 6, 2019
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2019
• Publication Date: January 15, 1976

Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441
3.3(h)(2)
6.2(d)
-OTS/CB Memo f76-11
15 January 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR : DC/OTS/DED
SUBJECT : ORD Report Card - Status of the LSR/ORD
Avian Program
1. On 13 Janua v 19.7 the q est c
re C-
u
DC/OTS/CB; I visited c/Ls. Project Engineer
of the Avian Program, in order to dete ine_,thestatO of
=A
1 Y recektlY,
inheritea the Avian Program from who is
-going -on fUll- time training, and therefore, wa
not totally 'faMiliar with the intraCacieg.:(5f, the:,prOg'iain:
Based on the Aviafi'Demonstration: arid the above briefing,
the lfollowing is my interpretation Of ' the StatUi of 'the
program '"
2. Many years. ago, the DDO was interested,,in,a,certain
potential s.,ienario: ' Consequently; the .D59 levied upon LSR/
ORD' the requirement of obtaining a -bird that - would talce-
pidtiltes'-of CertainrlobjeCt6 . Apparently,' ,this articularp
Scenatio ',never came to fruition. _
,3. A few liars ,ter the D310 levied anOther ,reqqirement
on the LSR to train a bird, to place a sensori7oh a Window ,ledge.
This was, carried blit to completion! Unfortunately;' the bid
was. in-the'process Of molting when the emplacement was needed
and, to make matters worse, when the _bird. was _finally _able to
fly, it placed the =sensor on the wrong window
the prOgram. Unfortunately,
4.2'Until recently the Avian iProgram has been .Shelved
due to the..lacic� of hard requirement. ,
_
or -46, ORO has app-arently de.cided to determine once and :for
all 4-pa.
-tilminated::in the "Avian Demonstration' held h-eiq
on 'October 79, 1975. At that demonstration the
bird capabilities were demonstrated. Although the general.
consensus at that time was that the bird ,capabilities, were
intereatimf,- it appeared there were 1Dreci_07,sisfe,7 ,s-dparlos
in which -a bird Would bri the only possible ehidle. to
complete the mission.
E IMPDET CL BY
Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441
Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441
5. Since that meeting, it has been discovered that
four possible scenarios have, materialized in which birds,
could be used. They are as follows:
7a) A bird climbing up and down a rope.
b) A bird taking Pictures in ,?� .denied,area. ,
c) , A bird placing a microphone on-a:A-349w sill.
d) A bird collecting ,a water_ sample, ,
What was dismissed, a few months ago, as an improbable,
exotic, humorous idea has suddenly become a serious under-
taking. In, fact, it is .presently being_han led bv the TCT.
SDB/OS, is. acting-as chairman.
DC/SE/UsSR, :as vice7ch.4.4=!lah 4nd As secretary- ofl
the effort. As-it stands to date, SR has the foll in
plans for the bird program. It has a contract' with
in California to conduct a feasibility test o.,
a specific operational scenario,._ The scenario is..to have
a ,kit.ofpigeons equipped with, cameras, fly- from on* ;Location
(launching site) to another location 3 miles- away, p.
pictures of a certain object., and f1V. to a- different- lbcation
(home).
;
6. The exPeriment will involve 3 kits. Tb rst kit
will actas a control group and will_be trainedto�fly from
home, to the target and back to home. , The sec6nd, kit will be
trained to fly from a launching -point to the target,X0 .anew
home 25 miles away,. - The third ktzll be trained in, Cali- .
fornia to fly from a launching point to the target and to a
new home. This kit will then be moved to Oklahoma and will
be carefully: observed tp determine the affects long distance
displac:eraent has,. on their Performance.- _ -1
'--;
7. Finally, the second 'kit in California Will�..pe,,poved
with the kit in Oklahoma .to Washingtpn, Tt, has, n
determined thatl at this time a live demonstrator :might._,be -
held .for ..interested. offices., Soeciiaca 1- the ,kits, -will- -
individually flY�from a launch point to tc)-17iast
The. above. project has been alreaunded,aat an-d
should take -6-7 months to go-mPlete-, ,If 'all, goes-as
the. feasibility of gird s'enzi:4,c.�-J.- will have been proven by
8. For your further edification, ORD/LSR has made a
27 minute 16mm film of the Avian Demonstration held at
It shows -110, performance of the birds in real
life situations. Lsa also has a 10 minute film clip of an
impromptu demonstration of a raven collecting a water sample.
Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441
Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441
9. At this point in time,
is not being funded whatsoever. It is my impression
that they are ,not employed at this time because of the less
"soectacular" Performance of birds as compared to
birdE _
This is unfortunate because
pproached the problem from a scientifid-Postu'r-e,
examining cause and effect, 'whereas took a more
pragmatic approach to get the job done. TR)th aPPKoache
feel, are equally valid,in this case. -
,It_shOlifd,be_nOted that the bird,deenefib:Pre
sentlYbein4 inveStigatedfin*Califdrnia bY
is not an OTS r6qUirement, but was generated directly
by the DDO staff. No firm requirements have yet been placed
upon OTS by the DDO.
11. I would like to reiterate my opinion which is
reflected in OTS/CB Memo
Demonstration
It appears as if justification of spending approximately
$100,000 per year for the maintenance of a stable of birds
for an occasional deployment would be difficult to ration-
alize. The undersigned received the impression that given
the present avian capabilities and the known possible
missions, there was little interest in maintaining the
capability at this time. ,In fact, there was only one DDO
Division (SE) that indicated an immediate interest in the
present avian application.
for the Record 475-127, "Avian
Through discussions with both contractors, the
undersigned pelieves that if the contracts were allowed
�to expire, would close down this type of operation
completely. However, has a continuing interest
in this basic type of training since he trains animals
and
would most likely stay in tne tield. Given a lead time of
3 to 4 months, and $20,000 to $30,000, would be able
to obtain and train 3 to 4 birds for a particular scenario
which has been previously demonstrated. Compared to yearly
maintenance of a stable of trained birds, this would be the
most economical route provided that operational plans for
using a trained bird are develpped far enough in advance
of the requirement."
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Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441
Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441
12. In closing I would like to state that based
on the limited knowledge I have gained to date, it is
my opinion that the Avian Program should be terminated
by ORD upon compipt+on of its present contract with
I feel it should then be turned over
to OTS and retained at not cost for R&D until a require-
ment is levied on OTS. At that time, could train
a pa-rticular bird within 3 to 4 months to perform a -scenario
Similar to those already demonstrated in the past by ORD,
at a cost of $2(M-to $30K.
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Approved for Release: 2019/07/30 C06527441