TACANA TCT REPORT, 4 JUNE 1976

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Animal Partners
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06637658
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: September 6, 2019
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2019
• Publication Date: August 16, 1976

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SE-efr
ORD 1085-76
16 August 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR:
SUBJECT:
TCT MEMBERS:
NIO/SA
TACANA TCT Report
4 June 1976 ;
TCT Chairman
FCT Vice Chairman
, TCT 'Secretary
1. The primary purpose of the Avian contract is to
train pigeons to carry an approximately thirty-seven
� gram camera from a release point (point A) to an
offset target point (point B) three miles distant from
the release point, obtain pictures of the target at
(point B), and return to their home loft� (point C) located
approximately fifty miles from point B. In addition, an
operational scenario requires that the birds be trans-
ported black approximately 3,500 miles to anew homesite,
including homing to it from varying distances, and per-
forming the A-B-C maneuver against a new target which
they have only seen simulated versions of prior to leaving
the United States. Progress toward these training goals
has led to the modification of the Avian contract work
plan in an effort to improve the likelihood of success ,
for the upcoming operational test and future operational
clandestine employment of the Avian System.
2. A schedule of Avian project activities was esta-
blished early in the contract to ensure orderly progress
toward the goals specified in the preceeding paragraph.
The schedule was considered to be tentative because a
number of factors, such as, bird training times, fabrication
of appropriate simulated targets, logistics of moving the
birds to several new homesites, and time periods involved
in acclimating the birds to their new homes, might delay
the scheduling of the simulated operational test. This
has indeed been the case.
EC
-E2 IMPDET CL BY
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� . 3. The first order of business in the schedule was
to train the birds to home fifty miles in California,.
move them to. a new site in California and perform a com-
plete test of the A-B-C scenario. This work appeared
to progress in an excellent manner. The contract was
initiated on 1 January 1976 and by the fifth week of
ct the flock (kit) of birds used in the
demonstration (the latter part of 1973)-had
been success ully relocated from San e o California
(approximately fifteen miles north of They
learned,to home from forty-four miles w i e weani
thirty-even to forty gram simulated cameras. .These
birds were subsequently ;relocated four different times
and theyvappeared to. be VLearning to le " At this
same time, additional birds 'obtained by Were
homing to the farm, with weights, from approximate y
three miles.
4. The next step in the schedule called for train-
ing the A-B-C maneuver to an A to B distance of two to
three miles and a B to C distance of twenty-five miles.
Although this work progressed smoothly, it became apparent
that the use of an area approximately 20 miles to the
north as a training site imposed a number
of serious cons rai _s limiting the capability to perform
a preliminary test of the operational capability of the
Avian System.
This topo-
graphical configuration resulted in a predominantly north
to south orientation in bird flight paths. Second, the
birds tended to use the freeways to ease their passage
between intermediate mountain ranges and a number of excel-
lent birds were lost to the program as they flew low along
the freeways and were struck by automobiles. Finally, it
was extremely difficult to obtain permission from area
Landowners to set-up the inflatable, twenty foot in dia-
meter radome at varying locations to train the birds to
,search for the target. �
5. Despite these drawbacks, it was decided to complete
the A-B-C scenario training in California on the scheduled
date of 3 April 1976, and move the project to Oklahoma and
perform the interim test of the Avian Systems in Oklahoma
at a farm owned by an acquaintance of The
� 13-1-riloits11-�werelof the
and A-B-C training was
initiated. � The parking lot was used in the
early stages as the base for setting up the target. As
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the birds extended their homing range and their learning
of the A to B connection was strengthened, the inflatable
radome was set-up at a location approximately twenty-seven
and one-half miles from the home loft. Once again, the
birds learned their tasks extremely well. So well in fact,
that project/personnel began to suspect that the birds
were using topographical features of the area rather than
a true search behavior to find the target. This fact was
later verified in Oklahoma. Thus, although it was possible
to test the system in California with the distance from A
to B at two and three-quarters miles and the distance
from B to C at twenty-seven and one-half miles, and with
the collection of excellent photography, the birds had
actually learned an inappropriate method of finding the
target. In effect, this meant that although the project
appeared to be three days ahead of schedule, the desired
A-B-C behavior had yet to be established in such a way
that it could be applied in the operational environment.
6. On the basis of the foregoing knowledge and an
evaluation of time remaining on the project, it was obvious
that Oklahoma was to become the "real" training site, and
that another location would be needed to perform an interim
test of the system in order to trouble-shoot the procedures
to be utilized in deploying it for the operational test.
7. The birds were transferred to a farm in
Oklahoma, and training of the desired search behavio
commenced on about I May 1976. It took three weeks for
the birds to become accustomed to the Oklahoma homesite and
"home" from distances of ten miles. By this time the A
to B search behavior was also becoming well established.
8. 'Two factors interfered with rapid progress at the
Oklahoma training site. The training crew was
due to be on site by 5 April 1976 and did not arrive until
11 April 1976 because was forced to delay his
California departure in deierence to a serious illness
suffered by his wife. personally lost an addi-
tional four days to negotiating the disposition of a
number of his other birds; crows, ravens, and eagles with
the California Fish and Game Commission, carried
on at the Oklahoma training site for Even so,
approximately seven and one-half days. were lost to rain,
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high winds and tornadoes. By now it was evident to all
concerned that although the work effort appeared to be
making satisfactory progress, the project was approxi-
mately one month behind the originally scheduled completion
date.
9. As a result of the delays incurred �in Oklahoma,
some modifications to the program were suggested to the
TCT by ORD. These modifications included moving the birds
directly from Oklahoma to the Washington, D.C.
area, acclimating them and training them to perform the
A-B-C maneuver in geographical locations significantly
removed from the target. The
rationale was that this procedure wouia piobably allow
the contractor to complete his program within the existing
contractual funding and possibly enable the initiation of
an operational exercise prior to October of this year.
10. In order to examine these recommendations with
potential users, a TCT meeting was held on 6 May 1976.
User representatives included SE/COPS,
and personnel from SE, OTS, and ORD. in general, the
reaction to th ro osed direct move to the Washint
D.C. area from Oklahoma was unfavorable.
stated his reserva ions in a formal memorandum on
7 May 1976. The memorandum noted that the required exten-
sion of approximately one month to complete the contractual
work seemed to eliminate the possibility that an operation
could be accomplished in the field this year. Therefore,
it was felt that it would be inappropriate to bring the
birds to Washington, D.C. until they were ready to perform
the operational scenario agreed upon early in the program.
In short, SE held the strong opinion that the birds should
be held away from the Washington area until they could be
trained against the target, moved clandestinely to
Was ton, acclimatized covertly, and deployed against
th arget with a return to home base. Further, the
memoran um indicated that it was important for the TCT to
obtain as complete an understanding as possible of the
acclimatization process in terms of its impact on covert
operations under simulated Moscow conditions. It also
indicated a strong interest in determining whether the
birds can demonstrate an ability to retain a target orient-
ation after being relocated and acclimatized to a new geo-
graphical location.
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11. In response to the memorandum issued by the
SE/COPS, the TCT developed a modified work effort which
provides a straightforward demonstration of whether or
not the A-B-C flight behavior (with photography) can be
accomplished successfully, and an interim test of the
operational capability including acclimatization target
training, and target retention capabilities prior to
moving the birds to Washington, D.C. for their final test.
This modified work plan includes a fu tional test of clan-
destine acclimatization procedures in Oklahoma
and an inspection of project status with regar to the
A-B-C flight behavior by the NIO and the TCT to be completed
by the latter part of June 1976.
12. The following procedures will be utilized in pre-
paring for the June.test.
a. Present Avian training of A-B-C flight
behavior, including clandestine release at A
and search behavior at A for B, will continue
in Oklahoma. The training will include
clandestine release at point A which will-be
located two to three miles from target B, search-
oriented flight to target B (in �a direction that
is opposite from the return flight to the home
loft) landing on the target and obtaining pic-
tures of the target and the target area, and,
finally returning 50 miles to the home loft
located in Oklahoma.
b. On 28 May 1976, a.collateral effort was
initiated in Oklahoma to determine if
the Avian assets can be acclimatized to a new
geographical location on a clandestine basis. .
On this date a simulated second story clandestine
loft was fabricated. Ten additional birds will
be moved from the in California to
the Oklahoma training area via air freight on
4 June, 1976. These birds will be housed in the
simulated clandestine loft and their only view of
the outside world will be provided through the
housing of an air conditioner. These birds will
be acclimatized by means of exercise releases and
will return to the loft through the air conditioner
until 'homing training is started. During homing
training, the birds will still return to the home
Fr
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loft through the air conditioner, however, they
will be taken to an initial release distance of at
least one mile for the initiation of homing train-
ing. One or two additional birds will be taken from
the home loft after acclimatization and transported
to a distance of fifty miles for their first release.
13. The results of the acclimatization procedures and
the operational A-B-C behavior (including Avian camera photo-
graphs of the target area) will be demonstrated during the
latter part of June 1976. This demonstration will be
arranged to enable the NIO/SA and other designated visitors
to observe the test from the various A-B-C positions.
14. On the assumption that the June test will be
successful, a new interim test site will be prepared for
the birds by the end of June 1976 (possibl)
California �. and. the ORD/COTR will travel to
to make a final determination of the suitability
of thE area as an interim test site. If it
turns out. LO u i acceptable area, the birds will be
transported to this new test site acclimatized
to a home loft by clandestine means, trained to "home"
by clandestine means, and tested on A-B-C behavior against
a simulated operational target. Upon satisfactory per-
formance of this task, a short period of reinforced target
training will be accomplished to strengthen the "flight-to
target" behavior prior to moving the birds to Washington, D.C.
The move to Washington will be completed during the first
week of August and after a suitable period of acclimatization
by clandestine means, separate A-B-C flight tests will be
performed with three kits to determine the effects that
differing time delays have on the retention of the A-B-C
behavior.
Camera Development Progress
15. The final camera design has been completed and
submitted to preliminary testing. This camera, referred
to as "camera number three" has undergone ground tests and
has been flown six times on birds at the Oklahoma training
site. The camera used the MINOX lens, has a weight of
35 grams which includes timer, film and batteries. The
total flight weight of the system,- including the bird
harness is 39.5 grams. A primary feature of this camera
is the inclusion of a focal plain flattener which permits
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accurate positioning of the film in the focal plain and a
reduction in motor torque, and hence probability of jamming.
Ultra thin base film appears to work well in this design
and more pictures (200 black and white, 140 color) �per
roll are possible. The shutter speed on this version of
the camera has been shortened to 1/1400 �of a second.
16. The current camera production schedule calls for
the completion of five additional cameras by 1 June 1976.
Approximately one week will be required to complete per-
formance reliability tests of these cameras. By approximately
14 June 1976, these five cameras will be ready for flight
testing. By the end of June, six cameras of the new design
and two cameras of the old design will be ready for demon-
strational.use.
17. A meeting was held with
Chief/APSD/NPIC, to discuss various turns and processing
techniques. A number of problems involving these matters
for both color and black and white film were discussed.
During the meeting it was agreed that a series of tests
will be conducted with the new camera and several film
selections in order to determine the best film and proces-
sing trade-offs between shutter speed, film speed, and film
resolution. These recommendations will be integrated
into the camera test in early June and verified during the
flight, test in the latter part of June. Analyses of flight
tests to date by NPIC supports the original estimate of
1.5 to two inch resolution when pictures are taken at
100 feet.altitude.
18. The lens has been assembled and tested
in comparison with t e new camera (camera number 3) design.
Both lens systems have field flatteners. The lens
is an F2.5 lens (about a stop faster), has about the same
resolution in the center and slightly better resolution
at the edge of the field of view. It's major advantage
is a faster stop which should allow for faster shutter
speed or resolution. As time permits, a camera will be
designed to incorporate this,lens and ground tests will
be conducted to verify performance.
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Sec'y TACANA TCT
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