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MINUTES MEETING 65-1k 

AIR FORCE MOL POLICY COMMITTEE 

Tuesday, November 30, 1965 

Room 4E871, Pentagon 

Attendance: 

Committee: 

Hon. Harold Brown, Secretary of the Air Force, Chairman 

General John P. McConnell, Chief of Staff, USAF 

Hon. Norman S. Paul, Under Secretary of the Air Force 

General B. A. Schriever, Commander, AFSC 

Hon. Alexander H. Flax, Asst. Secretary of the Air Force 

(R&D) 

Hon. Leonard Marks, Jr., Asst. Secretary of the Air Force 

(FM) 

Lt General James Ferguson, DCS/R&D 

Secretariat: 

Brigadier General Harry L. Evans, SAFSL, Executive Secretary 

Proceedings: 

1. The meeting was called to order at 1000 hours. General Evans 

noted to the Committee that the meeting had been called at the request 

of the Director, MOL Program to review manned and unmanned considerations 

relative to MOL which had been raised by the President's Science 

Advisory Committee. General Evans also recommended that urgent MOL 

budget problems be reviewed if time would permit. Minutes of previous 

meetings, and old business were not considered at this meeting. Secretary 

Brown affirmed that he and General McConnell would have to depart at 1100 

hours. 

2. Colonel Lew Allen, SAFSP, opened the presentations with a brief 

review of the key PSAC comments at issue. This he followed with a discussion of the major factors involved in the design of unmanned,MOL 

configurations, the manned functions which must be automated, and alternative approaches as to how this could be done. He then compared the 

several approaches investigated, and discussed the status of design and 

development of some of the needed devices. He summarized as follows: 

a. The basic DORIAN optics design is near optimum for dual 

use--manned or unmanned. 

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b. Automatic optical system alignment, and film handling 

with multiple recovery vehicles appears feasible. 

c. The V/h sensor is the critical element in the unmanned 

configuration. 

d. The V/h sensor performance is uncertain in both precision 

and reliability--no DORIAN systemoptical simulations have been performed with such a device. 

e. Partial across-the-format motion correction appears 

feasible. 

f. The navigation accuracies needed seem feasible, particularly with partial across-the-format motion correction. 

g. Average unmanned system resolution will be somewhat poorer 

than a manned system, due to loss of man's function of centering the 

target. 

Colonel Allen also pointed out that: 

a. Contract Definition Phase activities are currently 

oriented to a manned-only baseline, with minimal automation. However, 

participating contractors had been shown this briefing and are aware of 

present circumstances. 

b. Manned/unmanned studies directed by the DNRO in late 

September, and other relevant analyses, are well under way and detailed 

results are expected in mid-December. 

c. Subsystems design and test has been initiated for devices 

to automate the manned configuration. 

He concluded- that the work in progress was considered to have 

adequately addressed the issues of concern to PSAC, and was sufficiently 

comprehensive to allow decisions to be made in mid- or late-December as 

to the configurations which should be pursued for MOL. 

3. Colonel Allen was followed by Dr. L. P. Leonard, Aerospace 

Corporation, who gave a brief discussion on the impact of unmanned 

versions of MOL on basic MOL vehicle subsystems. 

4. The major elements of Committee discussion were as follows: 

a. Secretary Brown, responding to Colonel Allen's resume of 

PSAC comments, stated that he had not promised PSAC that the unmanned 

version of MOL would have the same performance as the manned version. 

What he did promise was an unmanned system degraded as little as possible 

from manned performance. 

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b. Secretary Brown stated that he was not prepared to accept 

the PSAC conclusion that the unmanned system could achieve 

resolution, because there is simply not enough information available to 

support such a contention. 

c. Secretary Brown stated that we have to accept the PSAC 

conclusions that an unmanned system would be needed due to physiological 

or political considerations which may render it inadvisable to undertake 

manned flight, and that cost effectiveness considerations for routine 

reconnaissance missions may favor unmanned flights. Secretary Brown 

continued that, while the argument for unmanned system cost effectiveness 

was acceptable for some routine missions, it was not clear that the 

argument extended to all missions. General Schriever supported Secretary 

Brown's contention, and introduced factors of reliability and mission 

duration as major cost effectiveness considerations. The Committee 

generally agreed with these points. 

d. Secretary Brown asked if anyone had flight tested a mapmatching device; He distinguished between contour matchers and scene 

matchers. General McConnell noted that the Air Force has been looking 

for a map-matching navigation system for some time, and has not found 

anything satisfactory yet. The Committee was not aware of any test 

flights of devices of the type under discussion. 

e. Secretary Brown stated that he liked the idea of working 

toward better navigation devices because it represented continuous 

improvement. 

f. Secretary Brown noted that 70-inch primary/70-inch piano 

optical system with a focal length appeared to be closer to the 

optimum for an unmanned configuration. In discussion it was developed 

that this situation was predominantly influenced by the available length 

of the mission module, and that other factors, such as image motion, 

strongly influence optimization. However, all factors considered, the 

current configuration was close to optimum for a dual use approach. 

g. Secretary Brown noted that the presentation represented 

very good guidelines for the participating contractors. He also noted 

that if the participating contractors were able to add the devices under 

discussion to make the manned system automatic, then we have satisfied the 

PSAC. 

h. General Schriever emphasized that we should continue all 

the analyses now under way during contract definition so that we would 

have a good basis to decide what to do--how to put together manned and 

unmanned systems, and how to automate a manned system. 

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i. General Schriever stated that he had talked with 

Astronauts Cooper and Conrad, and noted they expressed reservations 

over a design approach for a manned vehicle which stressed the use of 

automatic modes. 

j. Secretary Brown made the general observation that the 

presentations argued strongly for producing unmanned as well as manned 

MOL configurations, and then, according to the needs of specific missions, 

flying the configuration which offered the most advantages. 

k. Secretary Brown observed that the provision for unmanned 

MOL operation in initial design needed to be planned for quite early, 

but that it would not prove itself until considerably later in the program. 

4. As a few minutes remained before Secretary Brown's departure, 

General Evans summarized the funding situation, noting that the Program 

Office understood that fiscal year 1967 MOL funds were being reduced 

from $374 million to $150 million and that he was not aware of any action 

to address the situation. General McConnell noted, and Secretary Brown 

agreed, that the cut was severe. Secretary Brown stated that Dr. Foster 

and Dr. Flax were working on the funding problem from the standpoint of 

slipping the program on six and nine months bases, and recomputing FY 1967 

funding requirements for each case. Secretary Brown noted that an answer 

was needed in two to three days, and that he intended to talk with Dr. 

Foster on the funding situation before the end of the week. Assistant 

Secretary Flax noted that Dr. Foster was in agreement that $150 million was 

insufficient for FY 1967. 

5. Secretary Brown and General McConnell departed at 1100 hours. 

Discussions continued on the funding problem. Assistant Secretary Flax 

stated that he doubted if money from elsewhere in the Air Force budget 

should be identified for reprogramming to MOL, as there was no assurance 

that they would be applied to MOL. Rather, they might be considered as 

additional budget cuts. Assistant Secretary Marks strongly indorsed 

Assistant Secretary Flax's discussion. 

6. Under Secretary Paul departed at 1115 hours. Assistant 

Secretary Flax continued, noting that Dr. Hornig has indicated concern 

over a fund reduction, considering it important to pursue the high 

resolution optical reconnaissance objective as soon as feasible, and 

indicating he would be willing to assist us. Assistant Secretary Marks 

was of the opinion that there was little hope for a reinstatement of a 

major part of MOL funds for FY 1967. He did consider that we should 

press for new program guidance, and funds which can support it. Assistant 

Secretary Flax agreed, and stated, that in reference to Secretary Brown's 

remarks, a short memorandum to OSD should be prepared for his signature 

noting that a six-month slip in the program may be acceptable, but beyond 

that, we were in difficulty. A general discussion of possible program • 

structures ensued. The Committee agreed that the object was to price all 

elements of the program down to where available funds would fit, and yet 

retain program balance. 

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The Secretary of the Air Force Noted: 

That the current approach to the analysis of manned and unmanned 

versions of the MOL satisfactorily addressed the issues of concern to 

PSAC. 

ACTION: None indicated. 

That the presentations delivered at this meeting represented very 

good guidelines for participating contractors. 

ACTION: None indicated. 

The Secretary of the Air Force Directed: 

That an answer to the MOL Fiscal Year 1967 funding problems was 

required by 3 December 1965. 

ACTION: Assistant Secretary Flax. 

The meeting adjourned at 1135 hours. 

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APPENDIX 

MOL POLICY COMMITTEE 

30 November 1965 

Other Attendees: 

Colonel L. S. Norman, Jr., MOL Program Office, Recorder 

Dr. Michael I. Yarymovych, MOL Program Office 

Colonel Richard C. Randall, MOL Program Office 

Major Arthur D. Haas, MOL Program Office 

B/General R. Berg, Deputy Director, MOL Program 

Colonel William D. Brady, MOL Systems Office 

B/General John Martin, Director, Special Projects 

Colonel Lew Allen, SAFSP 

Dr. L. P. Leonard, Aerospace Corporation 

Dr. Allen Donovan, Aerospace Corporation 

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