BUREAU OF THE BUDGET 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 10101 

Honorable Richard Helms 

Director of Central Intelligence 

Central Intelligence Agency 

Washington, D. C. 

Dear Dick: 

MAR Z 2 1969 

Thank you very much for your letter of March 11. Let me 

start by emphasizing our area of agreement: it is our 

shared objective to cut away marginally productive intelligence activities. In this light, let me try to make clear 

why it is that we cannot now agree with your conclus~on 

that the lmxAGON photography would provide additional intelligence information sufficient to justify its signi.ficant cost. 

Let me address the question of the relative value of the 

HEX.~GON system in terms of need, .£Q.§£. and illh. I have 

also attached a paper (Tab A) which discusses the six 

specific areas cit~d in your letter as examples of the 

special contribution which HEXAGON's performance could mak-.. 

to intelligence needs. 

1. Initial Rationale and Present Situation 

- As you noted, the initial. requirement for a system 

like the HEXAGON was set forth by USIB in 1964. Since 1964, 

both the CORONA (KH-4B) and the GAMBIT-3 (KH-8), although 

less expensive systems than the HEXAGON, have greatly improved. 

(The chart at Tab B shows this.) Consequently,the added 

marginal value of the HEXAGON,. if it is used as a replacement 

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Control Syst~m 
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. NRO APPROVED FOR RELE~ ~: 

. DECLeAS$IFIED BY: CIIART "'~. 

"'"\ASSIFIED ON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 J8PSE8RET 

for the CORONA: and part:lal.~b .. :ti~l1t~for the GAMBIT-3, is 

now considerably 1 •• 8 than :,J:t-y· reasonably have appeared 

in 1964. . 

- The G~JT-j:'lona~:~~:'.~~'::~pr~vj.Jl?: :perf~rmance: aqainst the surye.~l.n~;·, ... ~::· '" ':r::F:'j!~"~~t"a.tes: there is 

no clear need forthe::~~,;:-":v.'::':.;."::!;~: system :asa 

2 

part:ial SUbstitute:in"~~\:~ :~',~;:~Qi~. !l'heCQltOBA, 

too, as you know. h_S~:~~:·;'<':;:"/':~'~.~ly:'since 19&4. In 

recognition ofsueb' l.,"::.' : 'A:~i·~.:,.,.:itfitl'~reNnt mix, the 

OSD study of NovaDbt~i,:)/r" .' ..•.. 'O~~~ii~~Cf··~1:t,bepre.ent and 

improving aampi ing<,c:apdlt~i:_i:.()',~,*~.(·;'~'~:3/CoJ.oM CClnbinationis adequa~ •. t~'~#"~;~~;:il1\~ct;~~~9."~· .. n.aeda '·in the 

area of Soviet bloC~:fUd'~~~.iJ.~{~ •• ·tc,p~bil·iti ... in 

air and mi •• ile delap.e" .. '~~9~~~£':ti.ya ••• , .• 1.a1'1. systems, 

and naval forces (pag.,::5, ... '.Pir·~8~BD-78416/68). 

2. Performancearidcapabfllty'of:CORONAlGAM.8I'l'-3~ 

- The GAMBIT-~.· 8;perlqrmance' for spotting now meet. 

99% of the annualtilrgetlooJcs;equior!d againat all ;6,600 

COMlREX tarqet3 (USZB'n.;.46~9/16'. 'This capability will 

further improve. All ai,nificant 'DIAtargets are colocated 

. with the CONIREX targets now covered. 

- The CORONA is adequate to meet the requirement of 

broad 3rea search ot the soviet bloc and China. (In 1968, 

CORONA provided cloud.-:lree .search photography of 94" of 

mainland China.) When'COROHA detects new targets or significant chanqea in previously identified targets, the 

GAMBIT-3 can be. directed to provide high ~asolution spotting 

coverage_ 

1. NRO cas·t II$imates v., Prohable Program costs 

Hzn~!~ vIa GV[~lar~ 

Control Syst:m , Tep SfGRET~ 
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. NRO APPROVED FOR RELP4SE' 

, P~L!,SSIFIED. BY: C/IAR1J'; . lQP .. SiQi~El~ •. ~CLASStFIEflON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 .. ,., .•... ",'~~/ 

3 

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. ,t., . '. :"', ~'.:: :satelli tes .ata,'.Qoat 0 would 

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" ",.,~', ~#~: .. ' ne~er be •• l;~O#!~,:,.(:.on5 < ' '... ..... he 3" - .. ~ I'~' syateJl\ Of the·;1'~~I\·:wqtlld:/ixt~"adequate. If 

.:. :..,.-. - .. 

the less cOlDplicat~c~.A'8hoUld continue, 

i:h& bulk of t'9.p~oPQ!ed·.;out-yeaX' reductions 

'. could probablYberetai'ned. 

Risks 

1. HEXAGON program slippaqEhof3 to 6 IUonths will probably 

occur due to technical ancf'Jaanaqement complexities.' This will 

drive costs up and a slip of more than 3mo~ths will require 

the extension of CORONA production--now scheduled to phase 

out in the next 3 months. 

2. igiXAGON launch rates of 4 per year now prograro.'1led may 

result in vehicle losses which would' produce a significant "'C}ap 

in search coverage. 

In summary, it does not seem that the arguments for the added 

value of the HEXAGON°adequatelY reflect the growing capabilities of our present systems: the probable added cost over 

time of the HEXAGON 8)'8tem.I and the related risk of probable 

technical difficulti •• with rsaultinq delays which would increase HEXAGON costs and might nec •• aitate further CORONA 

purchases in any, ev_t~ '0' 

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l'tRO APPROVED FOR REL~e,~) 

'.' DECLASSIFIED BY: CIIART "(",: 

/-oeClASSIFIED ON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 

In light of the factors in thialettar and the attached 

materials, 'We feel that our oriqinal'position is justi4 

fied and my staff ia available for more detailed discussions. 

" 

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Enclosures 

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Sincerely, 

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HANDLE VIA Byr.MAN 

CONTaOL SYSTEM 

NROAPPROVEb FOR RELEASE 

DE~$IFIED BY: C/iART 

DECLASSIFIED ON: 1 OCTOB.ER "'~~~E.!!l~~~~~~:!!'£>.. 

Mix Option 1 is curr.ent ly approved to meet USIB 

requirements for search and surveillance in FY 10. Mix 

Option 2 was .that described by USIB (COMIREX) in April 1968, 

as that future ation that would also meet these require-

.ants .. 

Successful Unit Annual 

.' 

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Comments. 

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an even qreater 

Additional 

5-year 
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