• OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

MEMORANDUM FOR DR. FLAX 

GENERAL FERGUSON 

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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 

WASHINGTON 20330' • 

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26 September 1968 

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RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

SUBJECT: MOL IVS Ad Hoc Review Group 

The MOL IVS Ad Hoc Review Group met at Valley Forge on 

20 and 21 Sept. Members included: Dr. O'Brien; Dr. McMillan; 

Mr. McFadden; Mr. Crouch; Col Allen; and Dr. Yarymovych. Mr. 

Hubbard and Col Gandy served as their Secretariat. Members 

who could not attend included: Dr. Cannon (who provided a 

written summary of an earlier IVS review by him); Mr. H. Davis; 

and Mr. Lozier (BTL). 

On the 20th, other than a brief overall MOL Program overview and status report by myself, the day was devoted to contractor presentations (GE, Itek, Goodyear, Hycon) and their 

discussions with the Ad Hoc Group. Systems Office and Aerospace 

participation was limited to answering questions appropriate 

only to the Government. The day ended at about 10 PM in the GE 

IVS test facility. The Ad Hoc Group spent the 21st discussing 

the situation (mostly in executive session) and drafting their 

report. 

Attached is a second-draft version of their report. Because of commitments by the individual members, the final product probably will not be available before mid-October; however, 

it is not expected to change in substance. I would summarize the' 

main points of their report as follows: 

1. Either the Hycon or Goodyear IVS devices could be 

selected with a reasonably high degree of confidence of adequate 

target tracking. 

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2. The Itek IVS device is not far enough along to 

be 

a serious contender in the present MOL Program and should 

be sent to the Avionics Lab for further testing (and possible 

other applications) when the Brassboard is complete. 

3. 

unnecessarily 

complexity or 

Some of the IVS performance specifications seem 

high, but apparently have not resulted in undue 

undesirable trade-offs. 

4. The Goodyear IVS device appears to be highly 

sensitive to simulater testing and great care must be exercised. 

5. Some improvements can be made in the simulater 

test equipment at GE. 

6. A much better understanding. of the cloud problem 

and IVS performance in the presence of clouds is needed. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the great progress made since 

the brief MOL PRC review in early June. Quite obviously, the 

concern expressed at the PRC, the subsequent visits by Program 

and Systems Office people, the establishment of Dr. O'Brien's 

Ad Hoc Group, etc., got everyone's attention. Goodyear and 

Hycon will deliver prototype engineering/production models for 

test on schedule next month. Itek's new brassboard model is 

not scheduled for delivery until mid-November and may be later 

than that. Itek's problems may be discribed as having first 

built brassboard hardware without really understanding the 

problem; they put a new team to work in July and now seem to 

understand the problem but are 6-9 months behind the other two. 

We will implement all recommendations with regard to the 

Hycon and Goodyear IVS devices, pointing toward a selection of 

one in January (the O'Brien Group is quite willing to review 

the status again in January if we so desire). However, I need 

some advice with regard to the Itek Brassboard. By October 1,. 

GE will have invested about $1.6 million of MOL money in the 

Itek effort. Approximately $150K additional will be needed to 

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complete and deliver it on time (late deliVery could add 

another $50K) as opposed to an October 1 termination. Mr. 

Crouch of the Avionics Lab would be delighted to have the 

Brassboard, indicating there are other possible applications. 

I suggest that Mr. Harry Davis and Dr. Yarymovych be asked 

to make an early determination as to the desirability of 

completing the Itek device and delivering it to the Avianics 

Lab (I assume the Lab is in fund trouble and MOL money would 

be used to complete the work at Itek). 

The Ad Hoc Group was a well-balanced team and worked 

very hard. Since Gen Ferguson transmitted the charter to the 

Group, I will prepare appropriate letters of appreciation for 

his signature to each member. 

AMES T. STEWART 

ajor General, USAF 

Vice Director, MOL Program, 

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