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BYE-2559-67 

17 August'1967 . 

MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Di;ector £Ol.· Science and Technology 

SUBJECT; 'l'A GBOARD Prog ram 

1. This memorandum is for info:rmation only. 

. 2. This Office has little inforination about the TAGBOARD program 

'. since its transfer to Directq:r) _ProgramD,NRO; in 1963. However. 

since the Agency handles contractingforTAGBOARD. Some background 

information is available •. A S igni.f:i.c ant. events summary chronology of 

the pro-gram is attached, ba.sed la.r.gely on information available to the 

Office of Special Activities Contracting Officer .. . . . 

3 •. Additional com~el1.ts ~bo\).t.t~~prog:t<arnthat follo~ are based' 

on informal rernarks made i.:£lth<:: p;:~stsevera1 weeks by Kelly Johnson, 

Col.ClasonB. Saunders, DireetOi:, Program!) (case ·officer of the 

program) oras indicate~ .. 

4. Initially the TAGBOAIID D.,21, Mach 3.3 drone was to be 

. carried on top oiand launched fxomspecially modified A-12 aircraft 

(originally two) which were designat~d M-21's. In this configuration the 

'D-21 drone ramjet engine was tobe ignited, checked out while attached 

to the M-21 and launched at spee'dsof Mach 3 .~ 3.2 for cruise flights at 

alt{tudes of 85-95.000 feet for a distance 'of about 3,000 m.iles. At 

recovery, canJ.era.; payload and certain equipments are ejected and re-' 

trieved, by a parachute air snatch accomplished by special C-130. aircraft, with the basic D-2l dronevehlcle being destroyed. 

5. After loss of an M-Zl aircr<tft during a 'flight test lau.nch in 1966, 

. the program was reviewed byNROand rforiented. Two B-52-H aircraft 

were substituted in place of the M'--Z11aunch aixcraft and configured to 

accommodate a modified D:..21 d:rone~redesignated the D-21B, which 

would be gravity dropped from the .B-52H launch vehicle. 'rhe reo.riented 

1>l'ogram :required an addition to. theD~2l13dro11e of asolid propellant 

OXCART ITAGBOARD. 

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Control Sys tern. 

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BYE 2559-67 

Pa.ge 2 

rocket booster (in essence a. second stage) and associated equipment 

to enable the drone to be accelerated,after drop from the B-52H, to 

an appropriate altitude arid ram pre5sttre (to stal.'t the inlet) at which 

time the D -21B drone ramjet enginec,\1(1ou.ld be ignited. ' rEhe .program 

called for the use of a solid rocket, \vhichhad been previously qualified 

_~an-rated for the Apoll~~:roi1ra~-~~-HoweverJ according to 

Col. Saunders, someth-ne after the reoriented program was under way, . 

Kelly Johnson ascertained that the new D~21B configuration needed more 

thrust and. as a result, the rocket h~-d to be redesigned and increased 

in size to' accomm.odate the xl<::W :ceq\tiremellt .. Recently probler.ns have 

been encountered with qualifyi.ng t).1cJ.'.-:cieslgned l·ocket. Kelly Johnson 

said that quality control problems were entountel'ed in the rocket case 

materiel but corrective acti~n has been.' undertaken. Also according to 

Col. Saunders, it was necessary to add a flame shield type of nozzle 

. to the aft end of the rocket to protect th<-; d;rone from hot exhaust 

'tem.peratures of the :rocket. AsidefTorn the aforementioned major 

redesign effort, we have been hea1.·ing (off the record) of sorne concern 

being expressed by Lockheed performance people about the eventual 

range of the D -ZlBdrone, ol'iginally forecast at 3000 nm. OXCART 

practical flight experience in Southeast Asia indicates that t..~e severity 

of upper air hot day temperatu:r:es (above standard day) encountered may 

. reduce D-21B specification range by as much .as 10% in similar situations. 

Also, there is sorr~e concern that wind shears or rapid temperature ' ' 

changes may possibly induce flam,eou.tswhen operating in areas of the. 

'. world where these situations are encountered. 

, 6. Step by step, the TAGBOARD" r~oriented program has evolved 

from a purported initial sin::i.ple secon,a stage configuration, with an 

on-the-shelf qualified rocket capability, into a redesigned one of increased size and corr:.plexity. It is not known to what extent Kelly Johnson 

retul'ned to the wind tunnel to verify thef;e rather major changes from the 

initial approved reoriented TAG.130ARDp:l:0p·ain. KellyJohnson, however, 

exudes his usual confidence iorecastingthesatlsiactory: demon.stration of . 

the D-2LB in four test flights' scheduled iate:r this year. It is a rather' 

optimistic feeling for such a c0U1.pleX'reoriented prDgram (new first stage •.. ' 

i.e., )3-52H, and additionofa second stage,L e, rocket etal). ' 

(Signed) 

. JOHN PARANGOSKY 

"'Deputy DirectorDI Special ActivitiE)~ • 

. A ttaclunent 

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COntrol System 

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.A ttacl:m~r~t to 

B YE-2559-67 

J..,ockheed .A irCl·a.ft Corpol'<ttwn'(LA C} authorized tope rform 

a drone configuration and .feaSibility study for' appz:oximately six 

months. ...... .' . 

B. December 1962 

.' ',: ", . 

. . LA C authorized to proceed towards design and fabrication. of 

20 drones <U'l.Q c.onvel'siol1 oftwoJl;';..,lZ aircraft (VI,EDLOCE:) to . 

la,unch vehicles ... ' Deiinitivecontractla:t(~l' prq:vided e,ssentially 

. for the following: ", . . _. 

.... ,. 

". .. . :':,' .: .. ' " ........ " . . -... '. . . 

Conversion.o£two~,",12aircraft .toM,.21 lal.:m,chail"cra£t 

2-. Fabrication of 20' ri:"Zl'dl'ones •.... , . . -"':,,' 

.• 3,' Static testing: of Ol'lC O~"th0'20 dl'ol}es . . ' '. . . '.~" . :,.,', . ' . ' .. ' . . ::" 

4 .. Flight testof12.airplar.{(l~'lontb:s:' iu<:lud{ng de:rnonstration 

spec Hiea tions ~," . . 

5 ... Initial spal.e~,,'AG E;l~claimals,'~ac i1ity~ons~ruction{ Bldg. 

, ":an.dAr~a51) andothe; .relatedit0tns; .... ,' ",..:. -." .... " ....... : " ..... . 

March 1963 

.·...Hyconauthoriz.edtop~oc~,edwith fa,bl:ica,tion of carn~ras . 

Definiti~e. contract late r,pl~Qvidcde$scntial1y: £9r :, ',: ":', '..' "', " .' ," ,", ;", .' " . ,,'. ~ ~ -". ," 

Onern·ototyp0' Hl~- 335 .. ~ 

. Nine\pr6duct~~nHR-~335~2tme1:<'l,s . \. . ,....... '. . .. , 

.3. Flighttest' pl~og:t~an"i;' . '. .' . . 

".;',", 

. 4. Initial spal'~s, 

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Attachrn(,nt to ;BYE-25S9~67 .' 

P;.l.geZ .' 

tl'a.n5ferrcd from CIA/ aSA LO G:-;'ncral Geary (now Col. Sa.unders); 

. " .. P:::ogl'.!.\li-:.D Dil'octOl', . witb., cont:i.~"ctil".g to);emain with CIA /OSA. .'. ." ", " .... ' 

E; Ap:l."il 1966 

LAC authorized 

ModelD-21droncs .. : 

_ F .. August 1966 

15 additional 

on. fourth test. dr·on~.la.\:nlchQver PMR the M';..21 la.unch aircraft 

(SIN 135) was destroyedleavillgoncM-21'aircraft SIN 134 as the 

only launch vehiCle,'Oith6'in:itiai 20d.ronesfabl<icatcd,·· this left .,' . 

15, D-Zl drones (orie ~sed.£b:r sta:,tic testingandioul' for launches). 

,Wit.~outabackuplauncll'\T~hiC:~e;,p:r.og_~axilwas ... re':'evaluated. . ;-:::;. 

'Se1J~emberl'966 ' ..•. 

,-",..:!':.. , .. , 

LAC adv..isedto 

. \:,' 

..... Decembcl'1966 

. ". '. " 

an a 'limited bas:is., 

-::1 LA Gpro";ided Wi1~~ cn{:!B;~54I·.r';i1'9ra~ft (as <1" replac~me~t£or .. ' -

; ...... <~M;.21 launch aii'q:aftJ fOl"))"lodi£iCo-tioxito,al.aurich.cortiigured aircraft, 

,,'I··:;/,,':~'.:',~;:.i;.:Y.!;:J :·but' to continuepr~_~ra~,,~ilia,lim, in~_d·b.;Cl.~il/ - . - _.' . - - . 

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'2. ,. Fabric~te seyen),"dciiLional 

previouslyauth.ol'izeq', 

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'iHi;;clcbrne;nt to 

13 Y.'C~ 2559.-67' 

Page 3 

".," .LAG advised to procu:rolongJ.ead items for eight additional 

drones .. (i5 retroiit, 7 productionandio:b.g leadiar 8) , 

KJuly 1967 

", " :./...."', . . :- ~ . . .' 

LAC advised to lJrbceed with twelve additional drones (15 ,retro- .' 

fi t and J 9 production). .... . . . .... .' . 

L. August 1967, 

LA C delivery 5chedulei~eceiVt3d£orcurrentapproyed program: 

Drone Delivery ~Schedu~ 

Retrofit D-21 Drones to D-2.1B Ail'craft_Cor:£i~1.n·ation: 

Serial Number" 

··501 

507. )'. 

508." .. 

509 

510 

511 

512. . 

513· 

514 

'.515 

516 

517 

518 

519 

, ·520 

.. :": 

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.:.---

1967 July 

••.. A~Ugust 

.: Aug'ust 

'.' Septem.b e r 

September .. 

" October 

October' 

. .... November 

November 

Decen1.ber 

December 

1968 January 

.... Janual'Y 

Febr1.lary. 

February 

. . 

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Page 4 

-I,' Production D-21 B Drones'; 

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~. '". 

. Serial Num.bcl' 

"521 

522 

523 

.·524 

525 

526 

517 

528' .-

529' 

530· 

531 

532 

. ····533 

534 

535 

536 

'537 

538 .' 

539 

M.August 1967 . . ," ''::" ,:.:,,-

. 'Date 

1968 March. 

April 

. May 

June 

. "July 

August . ' : ~ 

Septen'lber . 

Octobe:r 

. Nov.C;::t:lber 

"December 

Dec.::;mber:· 

:J.cLI1U~:r:y .' .', 

Februal~y 

'" ; .• :.' M.ai·ch ..... 

·.·March 

'.': .... April .. 

··,May .. 

June. 

June 

.... 

Proposal :receivedfrorn'Hy~onto finish the p.pdating of the ten :' 

cameras previously furnls}}.edu.,derthe ini.tialcontract and to deliver 

eleven additional can"leras~ . tAfh':·;t· thelos.s of launch aircraft SIN 

135 Hycon was also advised tO~'6r11: ona:·hrnited basis,.i. c., pro,.. 

·curem.ent of long lead. items',etc. ,untilapproval topJ:oceed with 

reoriented prograxu \ijasre':':.ei~;e4:}< . :' .. ' 

'. .:A secondB·-5zHi.aul1.~haiJ:craft.h~.'.lbeen a~slgned to the ·program. 

.' :andfurnished t~LACfol' rnodiiic&.tio~:..in$entember 1967 . .Estimated 

. completion of modi£icationD(!cert1.b~~··':1967im:lu.dirlg ~heck-out •. . ,.' ,... . -, . . . '."' ," . 

_ Handle Via Byeman. 

Control System 

Approved for Release: 2018/11/16 C05115208 
Approved for Release: 2018/11/16 C05115208 

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13 YE:"Z559 -.67 

Page 5 

A. Initialb-Z1B drone flightt'3£dng wiEbe conducted fxom. .ArE;a 51:' 

throughDece~bel' 1967. and 1<:t'(,<}1: a:t BealeAir:F.'orce Base. Four 

dl:one test l:aunches al·csc:he.duL!dto be m,adf; by the' en.d of 

December 19b7todemonstrato :specifications. '. It is. also planr.ed 

that two of the launches wi.ll in.elude Hycon camera tests. 

", 

ThefollowingNRO .funding hr."s b~imanCicated, . thus far, to the ' .. 

. TAGBOARD program, as il1.dicated.:'., 

FY.1963·· 

FY 1964 

FY1965 

FY 1.966. 

FY 1967 

);<Fy 1968 

I' "1-' 00'0' o ,':C:); . 

3",' ,,?-. 000 ~ '...J, ~;;: '.~ .J ~ 

34,300,000 

22,208,000 

48,:516,000 

36,7-33,400):<';<,' . 

$ fin, 647,400-> 

" ....... . 

:.' .. ,' 

;:'Asof 15 August 1968 

":'*Includes$2, 000. 000 fo:r long h;ad i tem$for 'pl'ocur'ernent of 

. sixteendl"One systems to be p:eocured,in FY 1969.· (Contractol"S,' 

LAC. and l'iycOn,havebeenackvisedlhatfuture I)rocurements are. 

anticipated\to he::six.teendl'0nes~ndeight cameras per year. } . 

Handle Vi.a Byeman 

Control System .. ' 

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