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Officer, Spoclal Activities
PFIAB Submission from Deputy for Research and Development
uly7
07
MEMORANDUM
Attached herewith are Deputy for Researchcontributions to the OSA submission forreport to the President's ForoignBoard7 as requested in
ej xur Research and Development Special Activities
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AfcD/OSA(Chrono) RB/OSA
FOP RELEASE DATB:7
OXCART IDEALIST ISINGLASS
TODVIA BYEMAN
CONTROL SYSTEM
PFIAB Submission for7 OXCART
1. Onecision was made by Higher Authority to terminate tho OXCART program effective An orderly phase-down plan for termination was implemented in the Spring This termination will be final and Irrevocable because of long lead time spares procuroaent and engine over-haul cessation taking place now.
ircraftullln5 by repeatedly demonstratingreliability. The fleet now consists of nine Six are operational, oneost bod, and one is
a two place trainer. One test aircraft Is being placed ln storage In accordance with the OXCART phase-down. or the scheduled phase-down of aircraft.
7 the OXCART detachaent was orderedAuthority to deploy to Kadena Air Base, Okinawareconnaissance operations over North Vietnam. was exocutod successfully and the firstwas conducted on Three moreflown ln tho period through ummary of the deployment and operational missions.
of0 flights have beena total3 flight hours. lightsuring the past year) which have reachedspeeds ofotallightduring the past year) at or above. Theachieved has been The maximumhas0 feet. Tho longestoursinutes. On anotherourswere spont at or above. Tho longestflight time atnd above has been 1minutes. Tor the past two years,lights haveropeatodly, routinely, and successfullyally basis.
TOP SFCRET
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&. There have been four accidents since the flight program began ln As of7 thisan accident reliability All of these accidents were attributed to traditional problems inherent ln any aircraft and did not involve the high Mach number or high altitude regime of flight. Tho escape systemejected the pilot ln each case. However, ln the last accident the pilot was killed on impact with the ground becausealfunction precluding man-seat separation after ejection from the aircraft.
ngine continues to perform well. experience based upon2 enginea reliabilityor that portion ofInitial climb. This is representative ofission after the penetration of The OXCART support test program is beingnow athitney in accordance with This program Involved product Improvement
and the correction of those probloms surfaced ln flight.
There are currently five camera systemstbe operational Inventory built by Perkin Elmer. lost in an aircraft crash and two have been storedwith the OXCART phase-down. Two camerasEastman Kodak are being placed ln storage inOXCART phase-down. Generally, tho Perkin Elmera ground resolution of one foot while theround resolutioneet. Acceptableperformance has been demonstrated by both In addition, two camera systems manufactured byln the flight validation phase,hird is inare longer focal length camerasroundone foot.
(b) Ground support equipment and flight hardware for throeide Looking Radar bystems have been placed in storage in accordanco with the program phase-down. Ono aircraft was configured for flight test of the system.
(c) Two infra-red sensors have also been placed in storage for the same reason.
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8. 2 aircraft radar cross-section has beenconsiderably. Though the aircraft can be detected by SOVBLOC radar, defensive countermeasures equipments have been dovoloped, tested and installed to considerably reduce tho risk to the aircraftostile environment. Duo to tho phase-down no further new efforts to reduce radar cross-section are under consideration. Developmentecond generation countermeasures equipment has been completed and is being tosted. Results to date are very encouraging. Upon completion of testing it will be introduced to tho operational fleet.
electronic counter-meaaures equipmentscurrent use in2 are on hand and Those systems repeatedly havo been flown2 aircraft. This demonstratedcombination with the operational speed and altitude ofand the unique anti-radar plastic panels ongive2 an acceptable level ofunfriendly environments.
detailed experience and reliabilitythe2 reconnaissance7 is attached.
In accordance with the decision to torminate the OXCART Program effective7 the following is thechedule of aircraft. It Is planned thus to provide an austere operational capability. Asia plus other contingencies through the current calendar year, spares provisioning reduction and ongine overhaul cessation permitting.
TYPERE MOTH-BALLED NO LATER THAN
1
1
1 Test 7
1 Trainer 7
1 Operational 7
4 Operational 8
7ii imo
BfcTl'TT.
o
BLACK SHIELD DEPLOYMENT A'RD OPERATIONAL SUMMARY
A. DEPLOYMENT
7 ACFTlow non-stop fromKadena AB, Okinawa0 hours, rne ilight required top-offerialand0 feet during cruise ator two legsor one leg.
7 ACFTlew non-stop froaKadena AB, Okinawa0 hours.
'lilts llight was similar to that of ACFTbove except an altltudo0 feet was roachod during cruise.
7 ACFTlowIsland0 hours. Landing ki nansprecautionary due to asystem. The flight was made ateet altltudo. The aircraftto Kadena on
B. OPERATIONAL SORTIES
Mission was flown ateeturation5 hours. Type
I camera was employed. The mission was successful.
Mission was flown ateeturation0 hours. Type
I camera was employed. The mission was succossful.
Mission was flown ateeturation0 hours. Typo
I camera was again used. The mission proved to be the most successful to data.
Mission was flown ateeturation0 hours. Type
I camera was used and the mission was successful.
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SUBMISSION FOR7 ISINGLASS
During the pastecision was made not to pursue further investigation or development of the ISINGLASS system by CIA. (ISINGLASS is the hypersonic, Machoost-glide vehicle proposed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation for reconnaissance purposes.) No effort or funding is being expended at present on it or any other now advanced aircraft system.
t in iiaiail;
Submission for7
IDEALIST
Official approvalR program was given on6otal ofircraft are on order. The engineering design is continuing on schedule with0 drawings having been released out of the current estimate0 releases to first flight. The assembly of the first article is proceeding satisfactorily and the first flight should take places scheduled. The preliminary flight test plan has been prepared and submitted to Headquarters. The first two aircraft have been designated as flight test aircraft. To date, there has been no official decision regarding the manner in which the aircraft will be numerically split between the Agency and the Air Force.
Original document.
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