PROJECT AQUATONE OPERATIONAL CONCEPT - WINTER/ SPRING 1958

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP62B00844R000200080053-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 2, 2002
• Sequence Number: 53
• Publication Date: January 29, 1958
• Content Type: SUMMARY

Approveor Releas 2003 SECRET /01/24: CIA-RDP62B844R000200080053-7
~'OP
29 January 1958
OPERATIONAL CONCEPT - WINTER/ SPRING 1958
1. Objectives: Primary objective of the proposed operations is
to obtain coverage of top priority targets in the USSR which for operational
planning are grouped into some 13 homogeneous weather areas. Four of
these can best be reached from Turkey,
e secondary objective is to obtain as much use-
ful as posse a outside of the primary target areas without increas-
ing the total number of missions for this purpose or incurring additional
risks.
2. Restrictions:
a. RAINBOW covered aircraft will be employed on all missions
with the exception of two areas in eastern central Siberia where the
range of aircraft thus equipped is insufficient
b. Missions will be compressed into as short a time period as
feasible after operations have been initiated.
c. Operations will be initiated as soon as RAINBOW equipped
aircraft are available, since it must be assumed that with the
passage of time the risk of interception will increase.
3. Weather: Broadly speaking, during the first six months of the
calendar year, the largest amount of clear weather occurs over the several
target areas at the following times:
Far East excluding KAMCHATKA -- February and March
KAMCHATKA -- April
Central Siberia -- February and March
TYURA TAM - - April and May
25X1
25X1
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Western Russia excluding WHITE SEA area -- March, with
May as second choice
WHITE SEA Area -- April through June
4. Equipment: Two aircraft without RAINBOW covering are already
in place in the Far East and three at Adana. One RAINBOW equipped air-
craft can be available in the Far East by 25 February and two thus equipped
in Adana by 15 March. Two additional RAINBOW aircraft will be available
in late March for allocation to either Detachment as required. These
numbers are believed adequate to support the operations outlined below, and
it is anticipated that, after the delivery dates indicated, weather will be the
limiting factor on the rate of operation.
5. Operational Concept: Operations will be conducted in the three
phases given below. Specific target areas will be selected and missions
planned on the basis of forecast weather, and no mission will be launched if
the weather forecast for the target area is marginal or if the forecast carries
a high degree of uncertainty.
a. A preliminary mission, designed in part to probe Russian
defenses, will be undertaken in the Far East as soon as a RAINBOW
aircraft is available. The target will be selected and the mission
planned in such a way as to involve a relatively shallow (300 to 500
miles) penetration over territory which is for the most part sparsely
inhabited. (The most probable targets are KOMSOMOLSK or
UKRAINA. )
b. Upon successful completion of this mission, and in the
absence of new evidence of an increased Soviet interception capability,
additional missions will be conducted against the other target areas
in the Far East and European Russia. It is anticipated that the last
missions to be launched will be those against the extreme northern
25X1 targets.
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 Approve- for Releas?P3~-RDP62IW844RO00200080053-7
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25X1
6. Timing: It is anticipated that the operations referred to above
can be completed approximately as follows:
a. Those against three of the four Far Eastern target areas
in March, with a possibility that coverage of KAMCHATKA may
not be obtainable until April.
b. Those against four Siberian target areas 25X1
25X1 y
7/15 April.
c. Those against four target areas in western Russia (excluding
the WHITE SEA area) probably by 1 April; the WHITE SEA target
area by 15 April.
7. Future Planning: Upon the conclusion of the above operations,
the prospects for this activity will be re-examined with particular reference
to: new or outstanding requirements for reconnaissance, intelligence then
available on Russian interception capabilities, and the status of developments
which might reduce the venerability to interception. On the basis of this
study plans for the future of the activity will be formulated and will be
reviewed with higher authority.
Approved For RJ&Pe 89
TS-164857
Total 3 pgs.
CIA-RDP62B00844R000200080053-7