TACANA TCT MEETING - 17 DECEMBER, 1975

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Animal Partners
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06527477
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: September 6, 2019
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2019
• Publication Date: January 23, 1976

3.5(c)
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3.3(h)(2)
6.2(d)
23 January 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR: NIO/SA
SUBJECT: TACANA TCT Meeting - 17 December, 1975
1. On 17 December 1975 a TCT meeting was held to
review progress on the TACANA feasibility study. The
following subjects were discussed:
a. TCT membership and tasking for team
members.
b. Operational test requirements
c. Contractor proposal and project status
4. -Camera design
The following Agency personnel attended the meeting:-
OTS
SE/USSR
LSR/ORD
SOG
IAS
NED/OSI
OT/ORD
2. TCT Team Membership
Charles Adkins-OT/ORD
Donald Reiser-DD/ORD
narry wooa-ww/uxu
Since the first TCT meeting, a number of agency offices
expressed definite interest in having technical personnel
participate as TACANA TCT members and sent representatives
to attend this meeting. As the discussion progressed, it
was evident that most of the attendees were unaware that TCT
membership required a:full time commitment to the TACANA
project. When this became, clear, it was decided to limit
TCT composition to three working members:
OTS/SDB, Chairman; SE/I/USSR, co-chairman,
and LSR/ORD, secretary. In this configuration
.E2 IMPDET CL BY
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the team includes two people
who are extremely familiar with the actual operational re-
quirements underlying the TACANA project and one team member,
(ORD) who is directly responsible within ORD for
accomplishing an objective test .of Avian capabilities and
limitations in relation to TACANA objectives.
Four ad hoc teams were formed to provide expertise to
the TCT as necessary. The target analysis team reports to
. It consists of memb(,rc frnm TAS (151 and n7I
�These are:.
OSI,
IAS /OSI, and the OWI member has not
named yet. The camera Equipment Team reports to
This team includes Charles AdkincinPr,
ORD, OTS, and OTS. The
other two teams; the Support Team, .(consisting of SOG
pilots) and the TACANA Birds Team (consisting of contractor
personnel) report to 'ORD. The ORD camera develop-
ment team also maintains close coordination with
because he is responsible within ORD for the development
and test of the complete Avian system, not just the bird
subsystem.
been
3. Operational Test Requirement
presented and discussed the
operational requirements for a test program to demonstrate
the operational utility of the Avian asset, These require-
ments can be summarized as follows:
SE Division/DDO has provided information which is being:
Used to design a denied area operational analog in the con-
tinental United States which simulates an actual operational
scenario. For the purpose of this analog, contractor facil-
ities in California will be used as a safe training area in
the United States. Metropolitan Washington will correspond
to a denied area capital. An Agency building in Washington
will simulate the safe haven, and the
will represent the actual targe L urea. All leple
sentations of the analog target area to the Contractor in his
training phase will utilize information and support realistic
for a denied area. There will be no access to the safe haven
or target area for any Avian asset prior to the period of .
acclimatization during the analog test, and the:contractor
will not have access to the target area. The contractor will
not use full scale outside models of the target area that
would be recognizable from overhead photography. The contrac
tor will be provided photography which is equivalent to the
resolution limits of KH-8 photography.
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Contractot. Proposal .and project status
reported that the contractor's TACANA propo-
sal had been received and approved by the ORD project review
board for funding in January. The contractor's work state-
ment outlines a program that is designed to provide three dis-
tinct and separate tests of the denied area analog. These
tests adhere to the guidelines established in the operational
test requirements and will enable the contractor and ORD
researchers to detect possible limitations of the Avian asset
prior to the final test in Washington, D.C. The first test
will take plate in California, the second in the Mid West,
and the third and final test in Washington.,
Prior to this meeting, the contractor had successfully
'moved and relocated a flock of birds from Point Loma near San
Di eat-) nal ifo.rnia
California.
These birds readily accepted their new home and within a few
weeks were homing from a distance of 15 miles while trans-
porting a simulated camera package. The contractor sees this
a positive sign that changing these and new birds from loca-
tion to location will be an achievable goal. The results of
the camera studies conducted to date and some additional tests
slated for mid-January will be used to configure a final cam-
era design to be completed in early February. Two cameras
are scheduled to be constructed, that will include a low F-
number lens. The new camera design will increase the film
size from 9mm to 16mm in width. The film roll will be capable
of taking 180 pictures at a rate of one picture per second
for a total coverage time of three minutes. The field of view
in the direction of motion will be roughly 3.0' and result in
an approximately contiguous pictures along the ground: The
increased film width Will almost double the lateral field of
view and thereby increase the probability of photographing
the target. In addition, this new design doubles the number
of pictures, thereby nearly quadrupling the overall probabil-
ity of recording the target. This new camera design is sche-
duled for final flight testing by the end of March 1976.
Final modifications and analysis should be completed by early
April.
Secretary, TACANA TCT
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