(St NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE

WASHINGTON. D.C.

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR •

MEMORANDUM FOR HAM

SUBJECT: Inadvertent Release of Sensitive Information

on Space and Satellites

I am concerned that a serious problem exists today

within the security review process in that testimony and

documents are being approved for release which reveal

sensitive compartmented information. A case in point

is illustrated in the attached.

I think it would be useful and mrudent if you would

establish a policy throughout the OSE and the Departments

that all security review papers which deal with space or

satellites be processed throunh SAM, which should be

designated as the expert point of contact on all space

and satellite matters.

Your cooperation in this serious matter would be

appreciated.

John L. Mc Lucas

1 Attachment

Extracts

Comae,

0064, of COMO WIN -TOVSECREF
-TOP-S-ECRETtSF NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE

WASHINGTON. D.C.

THE NRO STAFF

March 7, 1972 .

MEMORANDUM FOR DR. McLUCAS

SUBJECT: "Fact Of" Statement by Dr. Foster

Attached is an extract from the current issue of

Aviation Week which quotes Dr. Foster as having referred

to reconnaissance satellites. The article specifically

calls out the reference as being the first in a decade

by a Pentagon official. Also attached is the page from

Dr. Foster's testimony which was released as Unclassified.

It was prepared by ARPA and apparently authorized for re

lease through the OSD security review process. Cr. Foster

did not read this portion of the testimony before the

Committee.

We think that this disclosure is not in our best

interest; we are presently engaged in a dialoc with

Representative Pike to remove sensitive testimony from

the record. Ar. ilelms' letter to the President reiterates

his concern over security leaks on new programs, and the

deliberations of the :SAM 156 Committee on acknowledging

reconnaissance satellite applications to SALT monitoring

have not been concluded. It would seem appropriate to

express concern to Dr. Foster about this subject. It is

recommended that you also bring this to the attention of

Mr. Helms. SAFOI has received a call fro '

as to the meaning of the reference and was y en a no

comment response.

We are preparing a memorandum for your signature to

Hr. which requests that all DOD security review

items n relate to space or satellites be submitted

to SUSS for approval. (At

( 0,01ot7

FREDERICK L. HOFMANN

Lt Colonel, USAF

U

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110 Interne

CON

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OP • •• •••

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Item titled "Satellite Concern" from page 12, Aviation Week

and Space Technology, dated March 6, 1972.

Pentagon concern over Soviet test of killer satellites

(Aviation Week and Space Technology, December 13, 1971,

page 20) emerges from recent testimony by Dr. John S. Foster,

Director of Defense Research 6 Engineering before the Senate

Armed Services Committee.

Foster said "currently, and for Fiscal 73, some very

promising and highly technical techniques are being developed

to monitor and classify Soviet space activities. This work

could have a great impact on U.S. space activities related

to communications, reconnaissance and surveillance."

The mention of U.S. reconnaissance satellites is believed

to be the first public reference to such spacecraft ty a

Pentagon official in more than a decade.
5.7 ARPA and DNA

Although you will be discussing the programs of the Advanced Research

Projects Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency in detail with their respective Directors, these programs are important segments of our overall

Defense research and technology base, and I would like to describe thee.

5.7.1 The Advanced Research Projects Agency: ARPA is an independent

Defense Agency which operates under my guidance. The Secretary of Defense

and I depend upon ARPA to explore specific critical, high-risk, high-payoff

defense research areas. ARPA coordinates its activities closely With the

Ellitary.Departments, and many of the projects it begins are subsequently

incorporated in their programs. It receives both 6.1 and 6.2 fumdinc.

The 6.1 programs, budgeted at about $40 million, include material science,

human resources research, and information-processine techniques. AEPA's

involvement stresses the cross-Service aspects of these research areas.

In the human resources. area, for example, the DoD spends $6.5 billion per

year in the training of 2 million servicemen in some 2,000 different

specialty areas. An improvement of even a few percentage points in these

training methods would represent a savings measured in the hundreds of

million dollars. Working with the Military Services and the Assistant

Secretary (ranpover and Reserve Affairs) ARPA is emphasizing this area of

research in 1973, with a long-term goal of aehieving a 15 percent inprovesent in training effectiveness.

The Exploratory Development program, funded at about $196 million,

includes efforts in stratetic technolocy, tactical technolocv, advanced

sensors, nuclear-test ronitoring, and geographically distributed corputer

systems. These programs have the goal of answerin g critical questions

concerning technical feasibility and anticipatinc possible technical

surprises that could•affect the • .S. strategic and technical posture.

A past example was the development of Urea phased-array radars for

ballistic missile defense which have become major com ponents of tie

Safeguard system. A current example is ARPA's work in over-the-horizon

(DTH) radars, which show promise of increasing warning time for our

deterrent forces and improving fleet and CONUS air defense.

Over the years ARPA has developed techniques to monitor nuclear test-ban

agreements at increasingly lower levels of detectability. Currently, and

for FY '73, sere very promisint and highly technical techniques are beint

developed to monitor and classify Soviet space activities. This w prk could

have a great impact on C.S. space activities related to communications,

reconnaissance and surveillance.

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