Evening star., 1963-02-07
Cuban Bui|dup
Held WindfaII
0fInte|Iigence

| 0fInte|Iigence
Soviet Premier Khrushchev
unintentionally may have
handed the United States an
intelligence windfall in the
Cuban crisis, it appeared today.
Hints Of significant gains In
intelligence about modern So
Wet military operations were
scattered through the televised
Defense Department briefing
on Soviet military strength in
Cuba last night.
The presence Of the Russian
troops and equipment has given
the United States an unusual
peacetime opportunity to collect
detailed information about
modern Soviet war equipment
and how 1t is handled.
Furthermore, the exercise
over Cuba has enabled Amer
ican officials to prove the re-
markable effectiveness Of their
aerial reconnaissance tech
niques-so much so that Pres
ident Kennedy now thinks
pictures may provide more
effective verification than on
site inspection.
Faculty for Simplicity
With Secretary of Defense
Mcnamara looking on and
summing up the results, John
T. Hughes, special assistant to
the director Of the Defense In
telligence Agency, gave a run
ming commentary as huge en-
largements Of aerial pictures
taken over Cuba were pro-
jected at the briefing.
Mr.. Hughes said the aerial
photos revealed certain items
OF unique military interest"
These included. he said, "the
magnitude. intensity and re-
markable rapidity of the Soviet
build-up" last October; the So
Wet faculty for simplicity and
use of the field expedient," and
Soviet techniques of camou-
flage, concealment and decep-
ton.
In addition, Mr.. Hughes said.
the situation demonstrated
United States reconnaissance
capabilities. include various
types Of strategic and tactical
reconnaissance photography.
with photo Interpretation tech
niques able to measure ground
objects to tenths Of a foot.
MRBM System Assessed
He displayed one picture
taken from a low-flying plane
which he said provided us
with excellent detail of the
nature of the support euuip-
ment usually associated with
the Soviet medium-range bal
liStic missile"
At another point, Mr.. Hughes
said: "The photography that
we acquired with our low-level
missions permitted us to assess
very accurately and fully the
nature of the Soviet MRBM
system deployed in Cuba"
Both high-level-presumabl bly,
employing U-2 planes-and ex-
tremely low-level aerial photog-
raphy-using RF-10l and F-8UI
planes-have been used in Cuba.
They produce different results. |
One example of this was cited
by Mr.. Hughes. High-altitude |
photographs of Soviet garrison
sites in Cuba showed objects,
he said, of which I'VE could only
say they were probably tanks,
probably mortars ... :" But
pictures from a low-flying
plane, he said, made it no long
er a question of whether they
were mortars-''it was what |
was their caliber." And the
photo Interpretation could tell
the caliber was 120-mm.
Vast Tent
Mr.. Hughes called attention
to other details:
A missile shelter tent "l0Ot
feet in length and II feet wide"
. Mortars so sharply defined
that the caliber could be
measured missiles minus
nose cones -. men running
toward weapons as the camera
plane screamed over their
heads. One startling shot even
plumbed the depths of a Soviet
ships hold.
One photograph caught the
stark shadow Of the camera
plane as 1t flashed across a
harbor area at 800 miles per
hour-low, low down.