THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF 

WASHINGTON, 0. C. 20301 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE 

,AGBO 

JCSM-553-69 

5 September 1969 

Subject: TAGBOARD Operational Missions~ 

1. ~SB;-On 8 February 1969, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended immediate resumption of aerial reconnaissance over South 

China, suspended by the Secretary of State on 27 March 1968, 

employing the SR-71, 147 H/T, and TAGBOARD drones. 

2. ~The Director, National Reconnaissance Office (TS), 

stated on 13 August 1969 that the TAGBOARD System had reached 

a stage of development where all major test objectives were complete and recommended that approval be obtained for a limited 

operational mission in September 1969 over southern China or 

North Korea. 

3. ~ The TAGBOARD drone provides a unique technical capability to satisfy national re·quirements to ·conduct imagery recon- naissance operations against targets hostile or potentially 

hostile to the United States. In view of the political sensitivity to overflight of certain denied areas, such as China, by 

manned collection systems and the technical and other limitations 

of the current satellite program, the TAGBOARD operational capability has been developed to collect against objectives of 

national interest located in areas where manned operations could 

provoke incidents potentially embarrassing to the United States. 

4. ~The Defense Intelligence Agency, in assessing the 

intelligence need and evaluating the collection capability of 

the TAGBOARD System, states that the preferred TAGBOARD mission, 

based on potential target coverage, would be over southern 

China. Statistical data indicate that, as of 31 July 1969, 

high-priority us Intelligence Board approved targets in both 

. South China and North Korea had approximately the same 12-month 

coverage deficiencies, but 66 percent of the national highpriority South China targets had no coverage during the past 6 

months versus 33 percent for the national high-priority North 

GROUP l 

Exclude,d from IMomatlc 

downgrading and 

declassification 

JOP. SECRET Control No. BYE 78308 

HANDl.:E Viii: 

BYEMAN-TALENT-KEYHOLE 

CONTROL SYSTEMS JOINTLY TAGBOARD 

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Korea targets. Ninety-three percent of the high-priority South 

China targets had no coverage during the previous 2 months versus 

43 percent for the high-priority North Korea targets. Of the 114 

priority objectives in South China, eight have had no baseline 

coverage (quality necessary to determine occupancy and type 

equipment) since 1966, 32 have had no baseline coverage since 

1967, and 39 have had no baseline coverage since 1968. Although 

co.verage of the above-mentioned areas has been and will continue 

to be programmed for satellite systems, they carinot fully respond 

to imagery requirements in terms of frequency and quality of 

photography. ··· -

5. ~Although it is likely that existing threat radars 

will- detect a TAGBOARD drone penetration,· the communist Chinese 

and North Korean Air Forces surface-to-air missiles (SA-2) are 

not considered to pose a threat to_ the TAGBOARD drone. The 

probability of loss-of the drone due to enemy action is minimum. 

Appendix A hereto contains a review of the system description 

and test and production status. Sample proposed tracks are 

contained in Appendices B and· C hereto. - -·:. ~-- - C = ·::..: :· -. - - -- ~ -· . -. - - - -- - _____ .. .6 .~The Joint Chiefs. of Staff recommend that early 

approval be obtained to conduct a limited operational mission 

over South China which would provide high-priority imagery with 

sufficient resolution to determine level of occupancy, type 

equipment and supplies of key ground force installations, primary 

transportation routes,· and other selected military complexes. 

Should a mission over South China be politically unacceptable, 

the Joint Chiefs of Staff re.commend that an alternative mission 

over- North Korea be approved·to augment the SR-7l·collection __ -effort. and. to test . .the .. TAGBOARD-System.operatio~al concept. 

7 • .-ir8'( A specific mission, complete with objectives, will be 

prepared and submitted in accordance with existing reconnaissance 

schedule approval procedures. 

Attachments 

For the Joint Chiefs of Staff: 

2 

~d.~ 

EARLE G. WHEELER 

Chairman 

Joint Chiefs of Staff 

Control No. BYE 78308 

· HANDLE VIA • -roe sma:·:· 8¥EMAN-TAU;NT-KEYHOLE TAGBOARO-----------·- - . CONTROL SYSTEMS JOINTLY 

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'feF SECR!J'P/Ihl\NDLE VIA BYEMAN-TALENT/KEYHOLE CONTROL SYSTEMS JOINTLY 

PROJECT TAGBOARD 

APPENDIX A l 

TAGBOARD BACKGROUND 2 

Systems Description 3 

i 

1. ~The TAGBOARD System is an advanced reconnaissance 4 

system designed to provide detailed photo reconnaissance coverage 5 

of hostile territories. The system is composed of the D-21 

. high-per~orrance drone which is air launched from a B-52H air-

. I I 

craft. fh1 system is presently located at Beale AFB, California. 

The worldwide capabilities of the system are made possible by 

I the 3,000 nm range of the D-21 drone and the B-52H extended 

carryout .jith in-flight refueling. · 

I 

2. ~allowing air launch from the B-52H, the D-21B is 

accelerated to Mach 3.3 and an altitude of 80,000 feet by a 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

I 

solid prppellant booster rocket. The expended booster is then 14 

jettisoD;ed, and the D-21B commences a 3,000-nm cruise over a 15 

i 

course Jhich is preprogrammed in the inertial guidance system 16 

I 

at Mach'3.3 and at altitudes between 80,000 and 95,000 feet, 17 

I 

At the end of the predetermined course, a controlled descent is 18 

made to a lower altitude where the hatch containing the camera 19 

and other high-value items is ejected. The hatch payload is then 20 

decelerated and lowered by a parachute system to an altitude 21 

where an air retrieval is executed by JC-130 aircraft. The drone 22 

destroys itself by an explosive charge after the payload hatch 23 

has been ejected. 24 

3. ~A 24-inch focal length, F5.6 lens camera provides 25 

the D-21 reconnaissance capability. The camera may be operated 26 

in one of two modes, The first (Mode 3) aliows the camera to 27 

ex~)ose a photographic swath 16 nm wide and 3,900 nm in length. 28 

When operated in the second position {Mode 5), the car;iera 29 

will expose a swath 28 nm wide and 3,000 nm long. Design 

resolution is 2 feet at nadir. In-flight data are recorded 

10P :'.9ECH£~/UANDLE 

PROJEC'l' TAGBOJ\RD 

JCSi·,1-553-:-69 

VIA BYEMl1.N Tl\LENT/KEYHOLE CONTROL SYSTEMS c1OTNTL'l. 

1 Appendix A 

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30 

31 
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l'G!.' S:BCR!J'P/l:IANDLE VIA BYEMAN-TALENT/KEYHOLE CONTROL SYSTEMS JOINTLY 

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on the film whic~·~onsist of latitude, longitude, time, oblique 1 

position, and exposure number. 2 

i ; Test Status 3 

4. ~The TAGBOARD System underwent a detailed program 4 

review and systems analysis in November 1968. Since that time, 5 

there have been four TAGBOARD drone test flights. Three of the 6 

• I i 

four fli1hts were successful, range distance (from launch to hatch 7 

I I eject) of 3,026 nm, 3,044 nm, and 3,011 nm were flown, I I 

respectively. T~e drones flew at nominal altitudes between 

80,000 and 95,000 feet and sp~eds between 3.27 and 3.31 Mach. 

8 

9 

10 

I The hatch/was recovered by JC-130s in each flight, and photographs 11 

I 

were avaflable for analysis. In the last flight, which occurred 12 

on 10 Ju~y 1969, resolution was measured at 1'7" to 3'4" across 13 i 

I 

line of,flight and 1'7" to 3'2" in line of flight (nadir) 14 

from 

The 

The 

i 

resolution targets placed in 

unshccessful test flight took 

I . i drone's flight contra system 

the Haw'<-iian Islands chain. 

place on 11 February 1969. 

failed after 161 nm of flight 

15 

16 

17 

due to problems in the autopilot, and the drone was destroyed 18 

in flight. 19 

Production Status 20 

5. ~resently, there are three fully instrumented 21 

(telemetry system) drones available fo~ flight. In addition 22 

to the three fully instrumented drones, 19 other drones are avail-· 23 

able either in storage or the final stages of production. 24 

Sufficient cameras are available for use in each of the drones. 25 

Control No. BYE 78308 

Tar S!JCR!Jq,'/HANDLE VIA BYEMAN-·TALEN'r/KEYHOLE CON'rROL SYSTEMS JOINTLY 

PROJECT TAGBOARD 

2 

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control No. BYE 78308