REF ID:A44631 

' ,. ' 

a>NFIDENTIAL e ~TIONAL SECURITY A~ FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND 

Serial: 

COlWliBlill:Af; 

MJ!MORANJDI FOR TBB BBCHBTARY OP IBFDSB 

(A'l'm: General G. B. Erskine,, USftll·Ret,, 

Assistant to the Secretary of Defense,, 

Special Operations) 

-N 4877 

14 OEC.1960 

SUBJECT: Autmatic Electronic Binary Information Exchange (BIX) (U) 

1. !he modified B~ Ccmtract, formerly 1mown as APOGEE, is 

rapictcy nearing ccmpleticm. Decisions must now be ma.de for its 

future emploJJDent. A meeting was held in the Pentagon on · 14 November 196<>,, sponsored by DDR8cE (ADlHil!: C<H4), to consider :this 

problem. Members of OSD S&L, RY, and 080 attended,, as well as 

· representatives of the Military Departments,, the Joint Statt,, :ooA,, 

and BSA. 

2. !he three services will sulmit to the Joint Staff (J-6) 

their separate proposals for future emploJment of BIX. It is 

expected that J-6 will consiaer these pra,posals and forward a 

recamnendation to OSD. It was the consensus of OSD members that NBA 

also should submit a proposal. !Ihe pul'pOse of· this memorandum is to 

canpq with this wish. 

3. We believe tha:t test and evaluation of this equipnent is 

properly a function of the three Services under general .direction of 

DDRBa1i:. · However, aa an Agency of the DOD and original .sponsors of this 

aeveiopment, we feel an obligation to support the Test and Bvaluation 

Progrm provided that perscanel and budgetary problems can be 

satisfactorily resolved. We could not willingly undertake this task 

at the risk of degra41ng execut~on of this Agency's mission b7 

cliversion of f\mda or personnel\ 

4. The single, most labor-. and tme-consuming activity in the 

CRITICCJl.I System is the processing of multiple-addressed messages,, 

both where originated ana. in relay centers. 'lhis is an especi~ 

severe and intractable problem ;Ln the NSA Ccmnunications Center 

because of its position in the System and the volume of traffic 

handled. It does not yield to manua:l. solutions. We see no alternative 

to autmation of this tanction if' we -~ tq make progres-8. 'lhia · 

tqnction can be executed a.t electronic datii-h$ndl1D,g speEtd!I \1 BIX; 

that is indeed 1ta basic p~os,e·~ ; .~ 

r 

CONFIDENTIAL 

eclassifi ed and a roved for release b NSA on 10-25-2013 ursuant to E .0. 1352 
REF ID:A44631 

CjNFIDEN'fIAI 

Serial: N 4877 

5. BIX is now operaticaal in the contractor' a plant. We have 

conducted an extensive teat program ca the operating equipment over 

a continuous period of tour weeks. In our opinion, BIX meets. all . 

requirements of the contract and of CRITICQtM operations. We cBDD.ot 

know how it will perform in extended operation without actually 

using it in an operational environment. Although the .equipaent to 

be delivered baa only six lines, it can be integrated into CRITIC<M4 

operaticaa without great c11tticult1 and should provide a great cJeal 

ot inf'omation concerning the validity of its logic and design. The 

application of these findings to future Service-wide camauDicatiaD. 

developnents is obviou~. 

6.· We believe the equipnent can be installed in the present 

Carimun.icationa Center without significant disruption to operat1aa.a. 

We est~te the cost of' re-erecticm of' the equipment b7 the contractor 

to be $100,000. 'Die cost of caa.tract maintenance and prorlsiOD ·Of' 

spare parts for one year is eat:lmated at $300,000. Au additiCJDa.l 

$1001 000 is required tor incidental alterations auch as panel.1ng, 

power wiring, and air cc;>Dc11t1ca1Dg; and tor modifications to the 

existing cammmicatiQD plant to pe:rmi t installation. 

. . 

7 ~ NBA proposes that BJX be installed in the NSA Cmmwiicatians 

Center at Fort Meads for the purpose ot conducting a teat and . 

evaluation program tor a continuous period ot one year under actual 

operating concU tions. Bear the end ot that time consideratim can 

be given to future dispositicm ot the equipnent. IBA is unable to 

support this program trcm its own resources; therefore, this proposal 

is contingent upon allocation of' $500,000 tiis purgose. ' I 

Cop7 FLmlishecl: 

.AimRBa1I (CCIII) 

OSD (B&L) · JCS ·(J-6) 

:ooA 

2 

C()NF'IDEN'fIAL 
. . 

cc: Dllt. -Q~ AG 

Reading File 

D/Dm 

SERV 

S/ABST 

C<MP 

100 (2) 

TCOM (6) 

REF ID:A44631 

efNFIDENTIJ\lj 

Seriali N 4877 

...... ..... 

M/R: BIX, fozmerly known as APOGEE, is an Autcmatic Electronic Bin&ey" Irlf'orm.ation 

Exchange. It is a :major development in the electronic switching field. Physically, BIX is almost cmpleted; it is installed and operating at the contractor's··~. 

plant in Ifutle;y, B. J. The project was initiated as an applied engineering task 

by BSA about five years ago. About two years ago it became apparent that it had 

be cane an BBtD project, because of the many advanced c~cepts requiring logical. 

solutions. The contractor was faced with the necessity for asking tor more than 

the $5 million al.lotted to the .:task; NBA was faced with the necessity for 

, decision. At this stage, OSD was brought into the problm. Consequently, the 

decision was ma.de by DDMB that the project should be continued to its logical 

conclusion, eliminating daplicative hardware. A series at meetings have been 

qeld to determine future applications of BIX. These culminated in a meeting, 

sponsored by DDR&E, on 14 November 6o, in the Pentagon. '!be following were 

represented: NSA, CNO, ocsmo, AFOAC, OSD (DDR&E), :OOA, OSD (s&L), OSD (.ADDR&E, 

CCH!), J-6, JS. At this meeting it was .decided: 

a. The three Services and RSA would make recarmendations, among other things, 

to J-6 for disposition of the equipment,prior to 9 December 6o {This has been done 

by BSA Serial B 4821, dated 8 December 196o. ). 

b. NBA was specifical.ly requested to submit to OSD/OfJO a proposal. for f'llture 

emplo;yment of the equipaent. !Ibis request was a consensus at aJ.l OSD members at 

the meeting, representing oso, S&L, and DDR&I. ibis letter responds to this 

request. 

ibis letter has been circulated in DRAFl' to the BIX Advisor,y Group, beaded by 

Mr. Rowlett, S/ABST, for camaent. Subsequently 11t was approved in DRAFT by Mr. 

Rowlett, approved ill principle by D/Dm BSA, and approved, subject to minor changes, 

by the Director, BSA. r ' ~d'~-- '· 

Captain .Arthur Enderlin, USR,, 'Dm]Tc<M, 3736s, 9 Dec 6o, vad 

~-

CONFIDENfIAL ! 

I 

l ' .. 

-.......