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J, NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

CONTI 

~ r4 

/ 

iHE NRO STAFF October 17, 196 

HANDLE VIA 

BYEMAN 

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MEMORANDUM FOR DR. FLAX' 

SUBJECT: Response to Acting Secretary Baird's Letter to Mr. Nitze 

Following my discussion with you on Tuesday, I prepared the 

attached draft response (Tab A) to Secretary Baird's letter (Tab B). 

I have coordinated the response with Mr. Palley and have discussed its content with Colonel Morrison from Mr. Horwitz I office. 

Colonel Morrison is, as I mentioned, the OSD action officer on the 

Navy letter. Mr. Palley concurs in the response and Colonel 

Morrison is prepared to use the draft in the preparation of a response 

for Mr. Nitze' s signature. Colonel Morrison will add to the ,draft any 

particular discussion related to the general Navy roles and missions 

questions posed in Secretary Baird's letter. 

If you have rio objection, I will release the draft to Colonel 

Morrison for his use. 

RUSSELL A. BERG 

Brigadier General, USAF 

lOP SECRET _ CONTROLNO ____ -r--____ ____ 

COPY ___ OF __ 

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THE DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20301 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 

, CONTROL S 

SUBJECT: Department of Defense Satellite-Borne Earth-Sensing 

Activities 

This responds to your memorandum, BYE 64674-68, dated 

October 8, 1968. 

My memorandum, "Department of Defense Satellite-Borne EarthSensing Activities, " BYE 78268-68, dated August 23, 1968, is an update of an earlier memorandum issued on-August 30, 1965. The primary reason for'the up-date is to make sure that public meetings and 

symposia on earth-sensing from space, as well as papers on the subject prepared for public audiences, are screened and approved for 

conformity to national satellite reconnaissance security policy. Earthsensing activities, in the context of -this policy, compris.e those which 

employ active or image-forming devices in a data-gathering role. Subsystem components and equipments such as gravity gradient stabilization hardware, data links, horizon seekers, communications payloads, 

and navigational devices are exluded from these restrictions. It is not 

the intent of my memorandum to inhibit the conduct of this type effort in 

support of our military objectives, in 'accordance with the present assignments of responsibility for such activity as defined by the DOD 

Directives and Instructions. 

The National Reconnaissance Office, under the direct supervision 

of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, is the best qualified agency to 

make the required security analyses for me. The Top Secret version of 

my memorandum cannot, of course, refer to the NRO. If, as suggested 

in your memorandum, the text of the Top Secret version presents an 

intra-service problem, I suggest that you substitute your own "white" 

. instructions, designating a Navy office as the focal point for collecting 

. data on your earth-sensing activities. Appropriately cleared persons in 

~NDL£ Y1A BYEMAN ....... ....... ""'P"'\;,... .... Approved for Release: 2019/05/21 C05107900 
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that office could then deal directly with the NRO in obtaining the required coordination. If you decide to elect this option, advise me of 

the details of your arrangements at an early date. 

In summary, the sole purpose of BYE 78268-68 is to reaffirm 

that the NRO is responsible to me for certain earth-sensing activity 

security reviews and approvals, as well as for OSD contacts on the 

subject with other government agencies. To preclude any misunderstanding of the intent of my earlier memorandum, I am providing 

similar clarification to the other Services. 

r have asked Drs. Flax and Frosch to meet .on the ocean surveillance matter and advise Dr. Foster of their findings. 

--------_. 

NDlE VIA BYEMAN 

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Approved for Release: 2019/05/21 C05107900 - _.- -" I., 

lOP SECREl ENCLOSURE (1) 

THE EVOLVEMENT AND EFFECT OF CURRENT DEPARTMENT OF 

DEFENSE SPAC§ DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIVES 

,1. Relating to the Authority and Purview of the National 

" Reconnaissance Office (NHO) 

In the agreement between the Secretary of Defense and , the Director, CIA, reference (c), the National Reconnaissance 

Program was defined to "con~ist of all overt and covert 

,satellite and overflight pro j 'e c t s for. intelligence, geodesy'" 

and mapping photography and electronic sigrial collection. h 

i~". In this agreement, it was also established that the "NRO , , i",;" will be directly responsive to, and only to, the ph 0 t (, g rap hi 'c ,~ and electronic signal (SIGINT) collection,requirements and ., priorities'established by the United States Intelligence 

Board and will develop the over-all r,econnaissance program 

"'" to satisfy these requirements." 

, ; 0, 

" 

In ,a memorandum of 14 June 1962, reference (d >, the 

Deputy Secretary of Defense forwarded the above agreement 

to the Service Secretaries with the following limiting 

provision: "The (TS) National Reconnaissanie Program does 

not include peripheral reconnaissance acti'vities. These 

remain the responsibility of the Military Departments." 

I strongly · concur with these objectives and the lnitial 

intent as ex~ressed in establishing the National Reconnaissan 

'" Office. The requirements for, and the sensitivity involved 

,with, collecting intelligence information' over the denied ~~~ areas of the World dictite a separate, con.olidated . 

:' ',: pro g ram wit hac los ely h e 1 d nee d - t 0 - k now, sub j e c t to' a 

special system of security control. However, in the 

intervening years, the authority and purview of the 

National Reconnaissance Office has been increasingly 

expanded to a degree considered to be unjustified by 

requirement and unresp6nsive to th~ needs ~f the Services. 

.: 

a. The DOD Directive, reference (e), which establishe 

the responsibility and authority of the NRO, accurately 

reflected the initial definition but "contains no mention 

of the "to, and only to" condition in,the initial agreement 

or the limiting provisi~n excluding peripheral reconnaissance as e~tablished in the forwarding memorandum. 

b. In a memorandum of 30 August 1965 to the Service 

Secretaries, reference (a), the Deputy Secretary of Defense 

, . ... , ~." . ': '. "T~: 

ENCLOSU~~ )T( 

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dir.ected that all DOD needs for study. development,' tcst' 

or use of ~atellite image forming earth sensors fall 

within the scope of th~ National Reconnnissanoe prOgram. , .' .. , A 8 a n 0 x amp 1 e, the p hot 0 g }'J It P h Y f) t 0 () e B 11 JHl t t &HI III t f) r 

': ':,. ,oceanography research was now included, even though such 

:: ,·'activity clearly exceeds the initial definition and objective . . '. ",' of the' NRO • 

j.. c • InS e p t 'e,m b e r 1 966 , Navy ex per i men t s to t est 

"j 'various satellite sensors for ocean surveillance were 

";: cancelled from the MOL program. Thereafter, in a memorandum" 

';':' to the Secretary of the Navy and Director, NRO, the DDR&E ' 

"':-I~_recommend(ed "that the Air Force (NRO) provide the collection 

, system management". The ASN(R&D) responded, establishing ;'; 

the requirement primarily for development~ in detection-

, only radar "which would collect the location of rather 

,: " discrete 'blob types' of information as opposed to the 

: - '. " .,' 

, . 

'\ morc sophisticated, more technically difficult, high 

resolntion reconnaissance type radar system which 'would 

have an intelligence collection capability as well." The 

NRO was thus expanded to include a service project which 

'.; .~,'~; .' . was not for Itintelligence, geodesy and mapping photography 

and electronic signal collection", was responsive to tasking .... ' ; 

<r:; other than "to, and only to" the USIB; was assigned an 

:,. ',!'\ activity operational only over 'international waters, only 

, "",',',' in the remotest sense peripheral, and in the true sense 

,. k 

, "'. ~ ~ . '. . 

.' i 

not reconnaissance at all; and not an "image forming earth 

, , sen s 0 r" . T his sen s 0 r d e v' e lop men t 1 a you t sid e the s cop e 

of NRO responsibility in each·of the above categories until 

this assignment, 

" 

. , . . d. Reference (b) now deletes the term "image forming" 

" "and only the limitation "earth sensing" remains. Since all 

\:,~;,:':orbiting bodies sense the earth's gravitational field, even 

i" ':.':;';inert orbiting fragments now come. (in the strict sense) ,. 

": under the purview of the NIW. Certainly, any Navy gravity' 

;'I,}'; gradient device, meteorological device, radiometer for ~ , . -

• _, r~ 

" 

, . 

measuring ocean surface t~mperature, scatterometer for 

measuring ocean waves, or ocean surveillance detection 

radar is included. 

The potential benefits to be gained by NRO monitoring 

and review of space projects outside the purview of their 

.mission is recognized and such should c~ntinue. However, 

the continuous direct liaison as ctirrently directed will not 

only burden other programs with unnecessary security and 

administrative problems but it may endanger the security 

TOP RET 

ENCLOSUR 1) 

HANDLE VIA BYEMAN CONTROL SYSTEM ONLY BYE-64674/6 

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of the sensitive- programs under NRO purview. The Office 

of the Directo'r, Defense Research and Engineering. should 

be the direct point of contact. review .and approval of 

military SPUCQ pr~gr.m81 Dnd NnO reviow should be conducted 

through this office. 

Reference (b) is a case in point of the'security 

problems resulting whtin the NRO becomes unnecessarily . , i n v 0 I v e d wit hot h e r'- spa c e e f for t s • For e f f e c t i v e a d h e l~ e nee. 

the directives contained in ;reference (b) require wide 

dissemination to all working 'levels in the Navy's space 

effort. Yet, the directive was promulgated under the 

.>!... " " 

" BYE MAN ,. sec uri t y 1 eve 1 t s eve rei y res t ric tin g its dis c los u r e • 

and only a sanitized paraphrased version, downgraded to : . , . TOP SECRET, is available for limiied dist~ibution. 

:.',' .~ , ,., 

':' " 

, . ~ 

"" , , • ~ '. I, 

. ; .. 

.:' 

• ,d· • 

The case history of detection-radar development efforts, 

included later in this enclosure, illustrates the security 

problems and lack of response which may be expected when 

:,,' the NRO is assigned tasks not logically theirs to, perform • 

2. Relating to the' Achievement and Ma'intenance of Strong 

A\l-Se!vice participation in Militar~ Space Programs 

Excluding the delivery of weapons and the missions 

assigned 'to the NRO, the primary functions of military 

space systems fall into the categories of navigation, ' 

," ,,' communications, ocean surveillance, meteorology, oceanograph~ f, , ~. , 

. <: •. \ : ," .' ian d 5 ear c han d res cue. For e a c h, the 0 c e a n s pro v ide 

.' '" natural barriers, and the broad expanse of the world's 

.;," .":", oceans give special emphasis to the utilization of satellites , ( ' .. by the Navy ,for thei r accompli shment. "Thus, the Navy ,has 

., 

. " 

an inherent interest and requirement for the utilization 

of space systems that equals if.no.t....-exceeds those of the 

. other Services who are land rather than sea ·based. However, 

it is recognized that satellites can generally provide ,.~. , services for more than one military service and dictate 

_,' joint planning and cooperation in the development and 

."operation of the system, Thus there also exists a requir:e- ',~ \ " men t for a focal poi n t to ex ere i sea u tho r i t y, 0 ve r - all 

'control, and coordination of space eff.orts. 

',' . . ' 

, : . , . 

',' I ;' 

This was the intent and objective of the Secretary of, 

Defens'e when he wrote to the Chairman, JCS, in his memo " 

of 18 September 19~9: 

"the advent of military satellite and space vehicle 

systems has national.security implications which 

emphasize the. need for over-all ~ontrol and coordination of the military activity pertaining thereto. 

I of. 3

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Cantrul Syslo·lll J Ul~ SECftEl 

T9p SEGRET, 

," .' .. '. ' '" I; ,f 

\' . 

"The, establishment of a joint military organiza-, 

tion with control over operational space systems 

dOGS not opPQnr dOlirnblQ oi thiM time. Tho 

utilization of the present orgonizotiofl ~t thQ 

Military Departments appears preferable ••••• " 

" 

: " , ~ ',~ ',' " 

"Satellite and space vehicle' operntions will be 

assigned to the appropriate military department after,! 

consideration of the primary interest or special ' 

competence of the res'pective service. Where no one 

military department has primary interest or special 

competence, 'consideration will' be given to special", 

\ ';'" ,- .' competency in associated fields of development." ;1 " " 

~ .. :: 

t· 

';'.' " , 

Subsequent directives and procedures have departed 

radically from the above objectives. 

",;':\ a. References (f), (g) and (h), promulgated in 1961,' 

" , , , est a b 1 ish e d D D R & E a s the foe alp 0 i n t of coo r din a t ion and' 

"control over space efforts but assigned to the Air Force 

" ;' ,::~ the responsibility for the research, 'development, test" 

.',;', ,engineering and operation of all Department of Defense 

::" ' "'space programs or proJects. The other' military services'" 

',' ,',;" were specifically exclud'ed from all such r~'sp'onsibility, 

'.... with any exception to be made by' the Secretary of Defense' 

;' ),','. or Deputy Secretary of Defense only under ~usual circum-,, 

,:'",·,\>,',stances.' This ,abruptly ended al1-serviceparticipati'on. 

:however, the other services were granted authorization to,:. 

,\: :', ,: con d u c t pre 1 i min a r y res e a rc h t 0 d eve lop new way s '0 f u sin g , 

,space technolo,gy, under the control of DDR&IL 

.~ . , .. 

, " 

b. The scope of Air Force monopoly was again ,", 'I 

increased by the attachment to the 30 August 1965 memo, ", 

reference (a), fro~ ihe Deputy Secretary of Defense to the 

Serv,,ice Secretaries (underlining provided): 

:: . .': 

. . 

, ; 

" , 

,' . . 

"To insure that all Department of Defense needs for 

stu".1, development, tes't, or lIse of satellite bO,rne 

ima~le forming earth sensors are handled in a 

coordinated manner, I am requi~i~g that such needs 

be directed to the Office of the Secretary of the 

Air Force for review and proc~ssing." 

T his a c com p 1 ish edt h e i nit i a 1 s t e P.. i n rem 0 v i n g D D R &E a s 

the focal point for space mati~rs. ' , 

c. The attachment to reference (b), which replaces 

the pre vi 0 u sly ref ere nee d a tt a c h men t t C h·a n g est he' par a g rap h 

as' follows (underlining provided): 

. COpy. L 0::: 9 c:~!:s . . ..UW~~;~fT :raga - hi of P a f."; .. ", ,.: ~ .·.,~:(I,~ri~ ENCLOSU RE (l) TO 

llANnT r;' liT A RVRMA N rrlkr.:rn'nT~~'kv'C:;r·r.pj nNLV ,'BYE-64674/68 

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. ~OP 8SS1U:T, 

"To insure that all Department of Defense efforts 

involving the use of satellite-borne earth_sensQrs 

9 r t? tHU' i'1 e d C)il t JJi. tl tl}} ta¥J;U 11 ¥ p wi l h q tis r { Ii ft Q Q W---

pol i e i e B. I a III }' e q UTl' i fI gal Ii u 6 a m v- . y t () 6. 

.' ' •• '. :~,' .,"., • j' ~ directed to the Office of the Secretary of the Air 

Force for review and approval. "Activity" is defined 

to include feasibility stUdies, potential application 

studies, developments, tests, uses, plans for 

' .. ' , ~. 

, . 

..... 

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.:. \: 

.-'., 

. '. :~. 

.;, '. 

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symposia ·and conferences, and papers and presentations 

on this subject area;~ 

In effect, this now establishes the Office of the Secretary 

of the Ai r Force as' the ultimate approval authori ty for· 

every action and working-level effort associated with Navy 

'project or research involving space, afte~ such have been 

reviewed, approved and funded by the Secretary of Defense.' #".: 

This TOP SECRET attachment, a document which stands 

on its own, is neither limited by, nor makes reference to, 

other directives. As such, it is subject to future strict 

interpretation far exceeding what. I believe was intended 

by the Deputy Secretary of Defense when it was signed. 

However, with precedence so vividly established, I am 

certain that such strict interpr~tations will also, in a 

short time,evolve. Even assuming .Air Force approval of all 

non-Air Force ~fforts. the time delays and energies 

ex pen d e din d i r ec tin g ever y. pie ceo f pap e r, con c e p t u a 1 

'study 'or plant or preview of every' meeting to the Office 

.of the Secretary of the Air Force for approval in the .course . of conducting an approved project or research would be 

sufficient to kill or seriously retard any non-Air Force 

space program. 

In the same manner, the Air Force has evolved and 

increased its purview so as to synonymously include the 

National Reconnaissance program. Reference (e) established 

that the Director, NRO would be appointed by the Secretary 

of Defense, but made no commitment to a permanent associa-

,tion with anyone military service. Reference (b), on 

the other hand, now implies this association with the Air 

Force to be complete and essentially permanent. The 

DDR&E, in official corre,pondence, ~ven refers to the 

Nat ion a 1 He con n a iss a n ceO f f ice as the itA i r For c e ( N R 0 ) " • , '" 

In such an environment, it has become increasingly 

i ;~ 

" difficult and frustrating for the Navy to develop or maintain 

a cadre of space-knowledgeable personnel. capable of .~;' e f f e c t i Ve 1 y par tic i pat i n gill De par t me n t -0 f De fen s e spa c e 

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Approved for Release: 2019/05/21 C05107900 

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101' SEGltE! 

efforts. The Navy, with a requirement for space participa-

:. '. 

t ion e qua 1 too 1'- 9 rea t crt han: tho s e 0 f the 1 and - bas e d 

s~rvicosi findsit801f strangoly exoludbd frOm Qll but 

relatively periphers'l nctivitios •. The lack ot visible 

:," ' consideration to the primary interests or special competence 

':':< of respective services nas suppressed morale to the degree, 

:" where effective military space capability is endangered •. 

3. A Case History of Development Efforts for a Satellite-

" Borne Ocean Surveillance Detection Radar 

. '; . ... I, "! 

During the four years, 1962 through 1966, the Navy 

. conducted extensive preliminary research and analytic 

:0;' , . , e f f or t s tow a r d sse 1 c c tin g the sen s 0 ran d s y s t em b est 

" " , , 'suited forI and wit hg rea t est e x p e c tat i 0' n of, supporting 

"'> .. requirements for world-wide ocean surveillance. A 10w- " 

,,'" ,: resolution, detection-only radar was sele~ted to provide an' 

I, active all-weather system and the wide swaths essential for 

:;, i ; frequent, repetitive coverage of the 0 c ~ a n s with a minimum, 

,',' '_ :, n u m b e r 0 f sat ell i t e s • Add i t ion a I 1 y, t his sen s 0 r did not. 

present the power, data handling and other development 

'".::.problems of more sophisticated, radars. ' "',' I.,; 

-y.; . This effort came to an abrupt end in October 1966, 

as described in the first section of this encilosure; ~hen 

DDR&E assigned the responsibility for the developmen~ of 

this sensor to the "Air Force (NRO)". The Navy, at this 

";'~';:' time, made available to the NRO all its past efforts , 

'. 

;;.':' concerning this development. In March 1967, the Assistant 

" Secretary of the Navy (R&D) fo~warded the Navy's requirement: 

for the system and offered "that one or more naval officers, 

should now be assigned to work with the responsible members 

- :,~ 'i. . 0 f you r s t a f fin the pre par a t ion 0 f the n e c e s s a r y d eta i 1 e d" 

'. , ' studies and documentation •• · ••• ", and concluded with: "I 

would appreciate your comments concerning how we might, 

-:,' , be s t pro c e edt 0 ex p e d i t, e t his P to g ram" • 

. >; -, I n May 1 96,7, Rea r Adm ira I G R 0 V E R MAN, the 0 ire c tor , 

. -,;L,;: 'ASW and Ocean Surveillance Division, submitted a memorandum , ,\ 

" ., . ~ to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (R&D), via the Vice 

, ," ,. -. . Chi e f 0 f N a val 0 per a t ion s, w h i c h c r i t'-i c i zed the lac k 0 f ':,f response by the NRO and the concealment prohibiting program 

: .. ' 

i ," 

" monitori~g. This memorandum was subsequently forwarded ~ J', .' 

by ASN(R&D) to the Director, NRO. Applicable portions are 

quoted: 

"I con sid e r the I a c k 0 fan y tan g i b I e pro g res s tow a'r d S 

. the 'development' of an Ocean Surv~illance satellite 

within the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) a .' 

Copy ..... ---,:,_ of 3 copies 

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lJOmrol ~~~WIII . , . 

disappointment. In response to reference (a), you 

. ;" . 

'~ , 

forwarded a memorandum to the NHO concurring in the 

DDR&E recommendations 9nd briefly stated the Navy's 

p r 111110" y 0 (HHH) Sur v 01111l1HH' r (Ht u.i r f!l m CHI t 8, h i Q h 11 0 Ii t, 1 n a ,,:. : ant i c i pat edt e c h n i cal pro b 1 ems, and a p pro v i n g the . " ' " : 'assignment of 'appropriate naval officers to assist 

,. " .. " t hat 0 f f ice. bot h i n Was h i n g ton and i nth e fie 1 d • . . By reference (c), the Navy's detailed collection 

requirements were forwarded to ASAF(R&D). This • I • • . 1 ate r. me m 0 ran dum was . w r itt e n f 0 11 ow i n g s eve r a 1 

".) J.. months of discussions during which the Navy made. 

'''''',i,' ',': available to theNRO all pertinent documents .. :.";i'. , ·" ' . relative to the programs. A proposed development 

,'.\ . .. . .,.;, plan, and a fundin~ fschedule for FY 67 throughFY 69 . . " '.' was even prepared 1n ormally for,' 'and at the request 

':.'::',.'of, the NRO. and although retyped in the proper ' 

'''.~: '''',.'·.·c.: format, it was apparently never seen by Dr. Flax. '. ! '". . ~ . '. : ~ ", 

'; ~:!, ' 

~ :"': " 

: : ~ : '; 

, . .' ~.,.' ' 

... ; .. : ..... :.: .. :,', 

"2. It has become. apparent to ' me that as 10l1gas 

the development responsibility for a satellite •.• i radar system remains within the NRO there is little ',. 

'; :';,l.. ". 

'. \. , ' ,f. ." 

,;'- ' .. ':. " 

, .... 

~ .. , ' 

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, . . , :;' 

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hope for the early implementation of a system <.' • , capable of supporting Ocean Surveillance. Although 

',: the r e has bee n a con tin u 0 u sst rea m 0 f " coo per a t i v e " 

;'words, there has been no discernable action, and 

,no funds are apparently available to get started on 

,: .J the. problem. 

~1 ••••• 6 •.•.• Your letter pointed out that the Navy 

" . r e qui rem e n twa s for a de t e c t ion 0 n 1 y ,s y s t e m I and 

NRO staff p~rsonnel have concurred in this approach 

:!:. ,' .. , ins u b seq u e n tin for mal dis c u s s ion s • I tis 0 b v i 0 u s 

". ," that developments of this nature can only be justified 

,~ , 

",,' ,: 

in response to Navy Ocean Surveillance requirements.: 

The funding of NRO programs is so concealed that it 

is difficult to determine what is being expended . where, and prohibits program' monitoring, or .~ individual service support." ••••• 

"8. In conclusion, I recommen~ the following: 

a. That the need for pro~ram "responsibility 

within the NRO be reviewed at the DDR&E-ASN-ASAF 

level, and that every effort be made to ~ring the 

program back within the Navy at the earliest possible ~ate. As presently assigned, the· Ocean Surveillance 

program, a tactical system, isin competition with 

i . 

. " 

r 

HANDLE VIA BYEMANC.~NrnOr. S~?~~,~,M!J O~LY , ,,..~."' ... v .. . l,..I ........ .,u!'. . ' . 

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ENCLOSURE (1) TO 

BYE-64674/68 

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the National strategic programs which are the 

responsibility of the NRO, and cannot survive when 

money and peo,plo oro in short supply, •••• " 

In the summer of 1967, DDR&E recognized the lack of 

NRO response and proposed that the Navy again begin work 

.on a space radar sensor. The Navy was requested to conduct 

development and test of a detection radar system, and a . 'comprehensive reliability progiam, with the final objective 

'f' .. ,,:. that only repackaging would"be necessary for satellite 

:";:. " flight. With strong support, this program received initial 

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'.,; 'i Advanced Development funding ,for FY 69, and the Navy has 

been engaged in reassembling competent and space-k~owledgeab. 

personnel. . . 

The development program is achieving success' and, in 

! ...... ,.,.'. 'July 1968, a military space program designator was requested . . ,., ,from the Air Force to identify the effort. Upon publicat.ion .. -,' 

i of this number and its descriptive title in an Air Force' 

message of 7 August, considerable curiosity has been 

· _ directed to the Director, Navy Space Programs Division '. I ' ; .' c on c ern i n g " w hat t s th e N a v y d 0 i n gin spa c e " • Ref ere n c e 

t," ' . . (b), signed just two weeks later, now provides complete 

!)review and disapproval authority by'the Office of the 

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Secretary of the Air Force frirthis Secretary of Defense 

apVroved progiam~ 

In summary: 

a. The Navy has been assigned the task of developing 

a detecti~n radar applicable for satellite ocean surveillancE 

,The program is uniquely responsive to, and only to, Navy '~ 

requirements in that the sensor can respond to no known , 0 the r r e qui rem e n t s • Eve r y a ~ p e c t 0 f t his pro g ram d i c t ,a t e s · " .' sec uri t y r e qui rem e n t s 1 e sst han the ext rem e • The r a dar, 

when operational, would be only one of many sensors 

integrated into a many~source ocean surveillance ~ystem 

....... ) '{. w h i c h the N a v y i s cur r e n t 1 Y d ev e lop i n g • Yet, the Na v y i s 

not responsible for the radar satellite pro~ram. -. ':; . .. -. ~,. . .',' " 

b. The Air Force has been assigned responsibility for 

all aspect~ of this space program by references (f) and (0), 

and have been granted approval authority over all aspects 

" '" ' of the current Navy sen s 0 r d eve lop men t pro g ram b y reference 

.. (b). Yet, the Air Force, i,n all these· years, has conducted 

no known effort in ~esponse to these Navy requirements for 

ocean Jurveillance. , . 

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c. The NnO, as previously documehted, is also 

the responsibility of developing .this $pate system 

responso to Navy roquiromant6 •. Irt tho ensuing two ,I t.huy olIO tuve IHHH)mp~1~hod nothing • 

assigned 

in 

yeQtll. 

" I, Thus the threat of termination remains a constant threat 

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to all Navy personnel who are participating in this program, 

and t e r min a t ion wi 11 be the i r· r Ii! war d for h a r d work and s u c c e 5S ': 

rather than for failure. When the development effort becomes' 

.' . " successful, the program will be transTerred to the Air Force 

. . ,: 0 r tot heN no, not bee a use the y h a v e any s t ak e In its s u c c e s s " 

or because it supports their missions, ,or because they have 

. participated in the development or have special competence;' 

but the transfer will take place solely because it is in' ' . 

accordance with applicable current dfrectives. This procedure, 

" the direct result of current, directives, S'eems far removed 

" .... , from the objective of. a strong, effective, all-service 

:: ,'.' participatingmili tary space:'.effort~. ,-,. ,. , ... : .... :.: > :: ,: ) . ".' ~"'." " <. "-,', >. ' ". • ' '., ;,,' ." : ;.-:; 

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