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',~TIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE 

~) NP WASHINGTON, D.C. 

THE NRO STAFF 15 February 1968 

MEMORANDUM FOR GENERAL BERG 

SUBJECT: SOC 

REFERENCE: Your Memorandum, Subject: SOC, dated 18 Dec 1967 

Representatives from SAFSP, CIA/OSP, and the SOC met 

during the week of 12 February 1968 to analyze the need for additional automation of the SOC. The SOC functions and operational 

procedures, both current and contemplated for 1970, were reviewed 

in-depth in order to provide a basis for the analysis. 

Additional automated storage (data base) and retrieval of the 

reconnaissance data (e. g., photographic attempts vs successes), 

along with a limited ~nalxsis s~:eability, will greatly enhance the 

ability of the SOC to maximize reconn'iissance effectiveness. 

Specifically, a data base must be assembled and maintained. The 

data base will include the multi-sensor collection capabilities along 

with the requirements and all history of past missions. This data 

will be displayed and the information used for: 

a. Determination of optimum mis sion tasking in view of 

system availability and collection requirements. 

b. Evaluation of the mission performance and overall 

effectiveness of the reconnaissance efforts. 

These are the major SOC functions which can be enhanced 

through use of a limited SOC computational facil!!Y..t There is not 

a requirement to utilize operational software at the SOC to simulate' 

various systeITIs and ITIissions. 

The ComITIittee recommended that an IBM 360 Model 40 

Computer should be provided at the SOC for computational support. 

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Reconnaissance effectiveness. the data base and the computer 

configuration are further discussed in the attachments. 

t'.~~ Jk.d/Zet;l 

EDWIN F. SWEENEY I 

Colonel. USAF 

Chairman, 1005 Committee 

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Attachments - 3 

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1. Reconnais sance Effectiveness 

2. Data Base 

3. Data Processing Requirements 

and Recommended Computer 

Configuration 

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RECONNAISSANCE EFFECTIVENESS 

1. One of the key responsibilities of the SOC is that of insuring the 

effectiveness of the NRP collection systems in accomplishing the 

national intelligence objectives as specified by USIB. This function 

consists not only of the coordination of the interaction among the 

collection capabilities of the various systems to meet these objectives, 

but also the efficient utilization- orea:cE:'SYStem. Basically, this is 

an evaluation and planning function that is required if full realization 

of the capabilities of the collection systems is to be achieved. 

2. During the course of a detailed two-day review of current SOC 

operating procedures, data interfaces and computational capability, 

it was apparent that this key function was severely restricted by an 

inadequate data base and computational capability to utilize it. While 

some significant steps have been taken to accomplish many individual 

tasks on the UNIVAC 1005, no appreciable capability exists for 

realistic systems effectiveness evaluation. 

3. It is apparent that the importance of NRP systems effectiveness 

analysis will increase in the future with the introduction of more 

sophisticated and costly systems that will provide both increased 

collection capabilities and operating flexibility. A limited computational capability in the SOC is thus imperative to fhe lulfUTment of 

this responsibility. 

4. There are two primary phases to this systems effectiveness 

responsibility. During actual missions, the function consists of a 

continuous evaluation of the current status of accomplishment of all 

collection requirements, providing input to the operational decision 

process concerning what the current assets are best expended against. 

The second phase is a longer range evaluation and planning function 

that is responsive to changes in requirements or feedback of recommended improvements to the procedures for dete rmining current 

operations. 

5. The requirement for this function being performed at the SOC 

is the fact that the SOC is the focal point for all collection requirements, operational data and accomplishment data, and, hence, has 

the only complete data base. To delegate this function to another 

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facility would require not only a prohibitive quantity of data transmission. but would also have the effect of decentralizing an important 

function. The resultant coordination problem would require manual 

assimilation of the varying inputs. 

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DATA'BASE 

1. Data Base Functions. The SOC should develop, maintain, and 

utilize a data base which will be primarily a dynamic library of collection criteria, requirements and capabilities assigned to the NRO 

by the USIB. The SOC will receive all requirements, translate them 

into the data base. and then use this basic information to provide 

specific outputs. 

a. In a study mode, the data base will be used with a statement 

of projected capabilities and collection criteria to provide anticipated 

requirements for evaluation of new systems, or modifications of 

existing systems, in support of USIB-directed studies. 

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b. Operationally, the data base will be used in conjunction with 

statements of current collection capabilities and criteria, as furnished 

by the SPD(s} and the USIB, respectively, to define, first, system 

requirements and, second, mission requirements. 

(1) System requirements are a subset of the total collection 

requirements to a particular type of system (expressed in terms 

operationally applicable to that system) -based on its unique collection 

capabilities and how they relate to the total collection requirements 

and criteria. 

(2) Mission requirements are a more refined statement of 

the system requirements, again, expressed in compatible terms, 

based on current capabilities and requirements. The mission requirements are subject to the near-real-time dynamics based on feedback 

information through the reporting system and corollary sources of 

information acting through the USIB. 

c. An essential by-product of the operational and study modes 

will be reports which will be used to inform the DNRO, USIB and the 

intelligence community of the status of~!? assigned to the NRO and 

the accomplishment and performance levels of NRP missions. 

d. To maintain currency of the data base, the SOC will manage 

the internal data by receiving collection verification and confirmation 

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reports froIn the SPD(s) and intelligence cOInInunity and. based on 

criteria established in clos e coordination with the USIB. purging or 

Inodifying the data base as a continuous process. 

e. The SOC should have the necessary cOInputational and data 

processing capability to be able to Inanage the data base to Ineet 

study, operations and reporting requireInents in a tiInely and 

efficient Inanner. 

2. Data Base Contents. 

a. Collection Capabilities. The SOC will Inaintain close 

coordination with the USIB in the definition of capabilities of the 

NRP projects. This will be accoInplished through a constant flow 

of technical inforInation froIn the SPD(s) on the configuration of 

each systeIn for a specific Inission or group of Inissions. Interpretation and explanation of these capabilities by the SOC will be 

used to advise USIB concerning collection assets iInplied by stated 

requireInents for a systeIn or a Inission, and to define systeIn collection criteria. Additionally, a change of status in the collection 

capability occurring during Inission operations will be reported, and 

the effect of this will be to Inodify the requireInents and/ or criteria 

for that Inission. 

b. Collection Criteria. In order to assure the Inost optiInuIn 

accoInplishInent of unique Inission objectives, the SOC will interpret 

and forInat USIB collection criteria and ground rules for use within 

the NRO systeIn. Collection criteria will be specified in relative 

terInS of: 

(1) Target/area intelligence values, 

(2) Operational Inode values, 

(3) Collection systeIn values, 

(4) Quality values; 

and in absolute terInS of: 

(5) LiInitations, constraints, and requireInents of the 

above in terInS of types of target areas, 

(6) Frequency of coverage/intercept. 'l>! 

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Collection criteria will be dyn~mically modified by the SOC, 

as reports to and from the user community on confirmed mission 

performance frequently impact on criteria. Additionally. adaptive 

enhancement in current capabilities of the systems can result in 

a SOC redefinition of collection criteria. 

Ultimately, the current collection criteria is thus used by the 

SOC as an input to the data base for the determination of system 

and mission requirements when operated against the USIB collection 

requirements and SPD collection capabilities. 

c. Collection Requirements and Status. Operational collection 

requirements will be provided by the USIB to the SOC based on 

current capabilities of NRP programs in the form of specific targets, 

areas or general tasks. The USIB will define specific characteristics for the targets/ areas in the form of collection modes, emitter 

types, locations, quality requirements, and other characteristics 

which, when necessary, uniquely define a specific collection requirement. For each uniquely specified collection requirement, the 

following will be maintained within the data base: 

(1) A file of all required targets with priority (absolute, 

implicit, or relative), location and other physical parameters, mode. 

frequency of coverage. and date of last confirmed coverage. 

(2) A file of each attempt at the target. including time of 

attempt, payload/vehicle configuration and relative vehicle location. 

(3) A file of verification of each attempt in various levels 

(e. g •• verified weather, NPIC/AMS readout, and ICRS confirmation 

for photo; recognizer alarms anlfl NSA confirmation for SIGINT). 

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Other tasks will be defined in terms of special missions to fulfill 

crisis management requirements, search functions, and other requirements which do not involve unique targets / areas. Continual coordination with the USIB to better interpret their collection requirements 

and transformation into the SOC data base will be a primary responsibility of the SOC staff. The SOC will update their collection requirements files in response to new or changing USIB requirements on an 

as -required basis. 

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Projected collection requirements will be provided in a similar 

manner, with the exception that the SOC will perform a major role 

in the definition and interpretation of these requirements for the 

USIB. so that they may be translated into language unique to the SOC 

data base. and easily operated against in study modes. as required. 

by existing computational equipment at the SPD/STC/OSP locations. 

The knowledge of current systems capabilities and the tools used 

in these systems, must, in many cases, be used to analyze and 

evaluate the requirements for modifications to existing systems or 

the development of new systems to fulfill projected requirements. 

3. Reports Management and Operations. A reporting system will 

be operated, using the data processing equipment, to reflect 

requirements and accomplishments. 

a Q This system will reflect the interpretation of collection 

requirements and criteria, as managed in the data base by the SOC, 

and will be reported to the DNRO and the USIB. Such reports will 

inform the DNRO and USIB of what specific collection requirements 

have been assigned to particular systems/missions based on the 

criteria provided by the USIB and translated by the SOC. 

b. Reports will be prepared on current and projected mission 

schedules which will assist the SOC in planning workloads with the 

USIB and the intelligence community. 

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c. The SPD will report mission accomplishment and status 

in terms and formats which will identify probable collection 

operations to the SOC. The SOC will be responsible for translating the operational formats into terms useful to the appropriate 

agencies in the intelligence community. The SOC will also use 

such accomplishInent and status reports to manage the collection 

requirements, capabilities. and criteria in the data base and to 

modify the mission requirements and advise the DNRO and the USIB 

of current progress and performance of collection activities. 

d. The feedback from the intelligence community will be 

received through the reporting system to reflect actual mission 

accomplishment. This information will be in terms and formats 

which the SOC can translate and then use to modify collection requireInents and criteria in the data base. These operations will again be 

reported to the DNRO and the/ USIB to reflect mission status and 

accoInplishment. 

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DAT A PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS AND 

RECOMMENDED COMPUTER CONFIGURATION 

1. The SOC obtains the reconnaissance objectives from USIB and translates 

these into specific targeting requirements and criteria for each satellite 

system. These requirements along with the collection capabilities of the 

various systems will be a part of the SOC data base. In addition the data base 

will include targeting status. 

2. The data base concept requires large bulk: computer storage devices plus 

rapid access to this storage. The accomplishment of multi -mission optimiza~ 

tion (multi-system coverage trade-offs) implies some·modest computational 

capability. The CORONA/HEXAGON area cells (12 x 18 n. m.) and the 

GAMBIT target deck require identification and storage for approximately 

250,000 and 8,000 discreet items, respectively. The required description 

information for each of these items will include, but may not be limited to 

the previously described data base contents. 

3. The sizing of the data base indicates storage requirements of over 45 

million bytes (8 binary bits) of data. The following table shows approximate 

number of items for current and planned programs: 

CORONA/HEXAGON 

Area Cells (12 x 18 

n. m.) 

CORONA/HEXAGON 

High Priority List 

(HPL) (Points) 

GAMBIT (POints) 

EARPOP c=J 989, 

770) (High Priority 

Emitters) 

EARPOP (EOB Radars) 

Targets 

250,000 

(World -Wide) 

50 

8.000 

80 

8,000 

Attempts 

Per Mission 

28.000C 

90.000H 

150 

5,000 

43,000 

(6 mos) 

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Per Mission 

28,OOOC 

90,OOOH 

150 

5,000 

Indef. 

Indef. 

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DORIAN 15,000 6,000 6,000 _Jvt .. J:/·~ (., 

4. The computer system configuration required to accomplish the SOC 

functions must have the following capabilities: 

a. Direct access disk pack storage. 

b. Some arithmetic computational capability . ....... 

c. Card/tape input-output. 

d. Growth potential (more peripherial equipment, larger core, etc.) 

e. Higher order programming language (JOVIAL, FORTRAN, COBOL, 

etc.) 

7 

f. Compatability with available computer configurations for use 

during development arufas a backup. 

5. Because of the size of the data base and other considerations, an IBM 

360/40 computer configured with the IBM 2314 disk packs is recommended. 

This recommendation is based upon the following factors: 

a. IBM system/360 unique storage and hardware growth potential. 

b. Software is upward compatible, i. e. p software developed for the 

360/40 model can be used on the 50, 65, 75, and 91 models. 

c. This proposed computer configuration will fit into existing SOC 

facility space. 

d. A secure, compatible computer system and communication 

complex exist at CIA Headquarters to backup a catastrophic SOC 

computer failure. 

e. IBM 360/40 has both COBOL and FORTRAN programming language. 

f. Existing IBM system operating (data processing) software library 

would have direct SOC data base applications. 

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6. The following is the recommended computer configuration and equipment 

rental costs: (Based upon 176 hours per month) 

Note: 

a. Processor Group 

2040 - G Central Processor Unit 

4427 Floating Point Arithmetic 

6980 Selector Channel 

6981 Selector Channel 

b. Tape Group 

2403-3 Tape Control - 1 Drive 

7-Track Compatibility - 2 each 

2401-3 Single Tape Units - 2 each 

c. Random Access Group 

2314 Disks - 1 each 

d. Printer - Card Read/Punch 

1442 Read Punch - 1 each 

1403 N1 Printer - 1 each 

2821-2 Control Unit - 1 each 

1416 Train 

TOTAL 

Lease Price/Month 

$ 6,400 

100 

400 

300. 

1,300 

100 

1,600 

5,300 

500 

900 

600 

100 

$17,600 

The monthly cost (rental plus maintenance) of two.GDQ 3800 computers 

is 123,000. The monthly cost of the current two UNIVAC 1005 computers is ,000 per month. 

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