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REF ID:A43622 

'Jl)P SECRET DINtR 

NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY 

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND 

Serial: N 1364 

8 May 1961 . 

l?L 86-36/50 USC 3605 

EO 3 . 3 ( h) ( 2 ) 

'f'OP SECllE'f' f}!NA!t 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE MEMBERS OF USIB 

SUBJECT: Increased Security o~._ _____________ lTSGJ 

1 • Th e capa b"l"t 1 1 y o o f NSA t prov1 "d h . .e t e 1nte 

with current COMINT information on\ 

Lr uzence community 

,_ Th~A ........... 'hle increase inl 

PL 86-36/50 USC 3605 

EO 3 . 3 ( h) _( 2 ) 

"The Soviet Union is preparing 

31 January 1958, New York Time1; 

"Soviet's Biggest Satellite Repo~d 

in Count-Down" by Jack Raymond to launch a huge rocket, ~~bly 

in an attempt F<> lift j,~ ta~·· 

artificial earth satel'U•t.e, aecQ>rding to repo.rt!iJ., believed to be 

reliable .. 

Reproduction of this document in 

whole or in part is prohibited 

except with pe;rmission of the 

issuing office. 

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Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 10-09-2013 pursuantto E .0. 1352a 
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':FOP SBOR13'i' DUU'.cR 

23 June 1959, New York Times: 

"Soviet Military Gains" by Hanson 

Baldwin 

8 August 1959, New York Times: 

"Missile Detection Plans" by Hanson 

Baldwin 

11 February 1960, New York Times: 

"Two Soviet Rockets Failed, U. S. 

Says" by John W. Finney 

2 

Serial: N 1364 

"The Russians were reported 

to have begun at least one 

countdown, a process like 

the one that precedes missile 

launchings in. this country." 

"Since March the Soviet 

ballistic-missile range with 

launching point near the 

Caspian Sea has fired about 

three to four long range 

missiles a month. Of the 

20 fired at ranges of 3, 500 

miles or more, only one has 

achieved a 5, 000-mi le range. 

One apparent satellite launching attempt was a failure. 11 

"Still another method of 

detecting missile or satellite 

launchings is a secret worldwide communfoations intelligence system, about which 

little has been released. 

Careful and detailed 'eavesdropping' on foreign electronic 

emanations, both radio and 

radar, often reveals a •missile 

shoot' or a nuclear explosion." 

"The Soviet Union made two 

unsuccessful launching attempts 

during its recent test firings 

of a powerful new rocket into 

the Pacific Ocean, United 

States officials said today. 

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14 February 1960, New York Times: 

11Vital Questions Raised in Defense 

Debate" by Hanson Baldwin 

22 February 1960, Ti~~:. -··, : 

"Neither Lapped nor Gapped" 

20 February 1961, Newsweek: 

tt Spotting Sputniks - Now the 

Shot at Venus11 

3 

Se rial: N 1364 

11The Soviet launching failures 

were detected by United States 

listening posts in the Middle 

East that monitor rocket 

firings at the test sites near 

the Caspian and Aral Seas, 

the officials said." 

"How good is our intelligence 

on Russia? A brief answer is 

that it is far better than the 

Congressional debates have led 

the public to believe. Longrange radar, communications 

intelligence, United States 

submarines and aircraft, and 

hundreds of other sources, 

have given us a pretty accurate 

picture of many, but by no 

means all, el-ements of Russian 

strength. 11 

11 U. S. monitors in the Middle 

East picked up the countdowns 

between Jan. 15 and Feb. l, but 

could not tell whether the two 

birds blew up or the tests failed 

for other causes." 

"ELINT . • • • is a form of 

electronic eavesdropping 

conducted along Russia's borders. 

When a major sputnik is being 

launched at either Tyura Tam or 

Kapustin Yar in the southwestern 

NSA TS CONTL. NO. 61-0Z014 

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March 1961, The Readers Digest: 

"Our Secret Radar War with Russia11 

by Martin Mann 

23 April 1961, New York Times: 

"How U. S. Confirmed Soviet 

Space Feat" by John W. Finney 

4 

Se rial: N 1364 

part of the Soviet Union, the 

pre-launch preparations require a considerable amount 

of radio communications and 

coordination at hundreds of 

range check points. It is now 

an open secret that U. S. 

listening posts in the Middle 

East, usually manned by the 

National Security Agency, 

attempt to intercept these 

communications and decrypt 

them, if they are in code. 

Sometimes, the sheer volume 

of traffic can be analyzed and 

made to yield valued clues to 

impending missile activities." 

11With modern· electronic equipment there's lots more than 

radar for an expert raven to 

find. He can intercept secret 

radio communications. If he's 

lucky (or well informed) he 

could happen onto a missile 

firing. Many 'missiles are 

guided by radio, and a recording of the guidance signals 

reveals, to experts, how the 

control system works. u 

"For several years the United 

States has maintained a global 

surveillance network to keep 

track of Soviet launchings. So 

effective is the system that the 

United States has had knowledge 

of every major Russian space 

shot in advance of the Moscow.· 

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announcement as well as of 

missile launcl'iings that were 

never announced. u 

ments in the eriod from 

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9. ~he above is forwarded for your information and review. 

Copy Fu;rnished: 

OSO/OSD 

ATrN: 'Mr. Mitchell 

L. H. FROST 

Vice Admiral, USN 

Director . 

, NSA TS CONTL. NO. 61-02014 

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8 

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cc: nrn.- . D/DIR · AG 

Reading File 

DIR PROD 

PROD-03 

PROD-04 

PROD-05 

GENS 

GENS-6 (4 copies) 

CREF . 

OPS 

M/R: Self-explanatory. 

REF ID:A43622 

Se rial: N 1361.i. 

RICHARD P. FLO~O/O S/4994-S/8 May 1961/mlo