PROJECT AQUATONE OPERATIONAL CONCEPT - WINTER/ SPRING 1958

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP62B00844R000200080053-7
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
3
Document Creation Date: 
December 14, 2016
Document Release Date: 
December 2, 2002
Sequence Number: 
53
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 29, 1958
Content Type: 
SUMMARY
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PDF icon CIA-RDP62B00844R000200080053-7.pdf125.91 KB
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Approveor Releas 2003 SECRET /01/24: CIA-RDP62B844R000200080053-7 ~'OP 29 January 1958 OPERATIONAL CONCEPT - WINTER/ SPRING 1958 1. Objectives: Primary objective of the proposed operations is to obtain coverage of top priority targets in the USSR which for operational planning are grouped into some 13 homogeneous weather areas. Four of these can best be reached from Turkey, e secondary objective is to obtain as much use- ful as posse a outside of the primary target areas without increas- ing the total number of missions for this purpose or incurring additional risks. 2. Restrictions: a. RAINBOW covered aircraft will be employed on all missions with the exception of two areas in eastern central Siberia where the range of aircraft thus equipped is insufficient b. Missions will be compressed into as short a time period as feasible after operations have been initiated. c. Operations will be initiated as soon as RAINBOW equipped aircraft are available, since it must be assumed that with the passage of time the risk of interception will increase. 3. Weather: Broadly speaking, during the first six months of the calendar year, the largest amount of clear weather occurs over the several target areas at the following times: Far East excluding KAMCHATKA -- February and March KAMCHATKA -- April Central Siberia -- February and March TYURA TAM - - April and May 25X1 25X1 Approved For ReI ?E/JET CIA-RDP62B00844R000200Py3 5 7 Approvejor Release ~1~CIA-RDP6244R000200080053-7 Western Russia excluding WHITE SEA area -- March, with May as second choice WHITE SEA Area -- April through June 4. Equipment: Two aircraft without RAINBOW covering are already in place in the Far East and three at Adana. One RAINBOW equipped air- craft can be available in the Far East by 25 February and two thus equipped in Adana by 15 March. Two additional RAINBOW aircraft will be available in late March for allocation to either Detachment as required. These numbers are believed adequate to support the operations outlined below, and it is anticipated that, after the delivery dates indicated, weather will be the limiting factor on the rate of operation. 5. Operational Concept: Operations will be conducted in the three phases given below. Specific target areas will be selected and missions planned on the basis of forecast weather, and no mission will be launched if the weather forecast for the target area is marginal or if the forecast carries a high degree of uncertainty. a. A preliminary mission, designed in part to probe Russian defenses, will be undertaken in the Far East as soon as a RAINBOW aircraft is available. The target will be selected and the mission planned in such a way as to involve a relatively shallow (300 to 500 miles) penetration over territory which is for the most part sparsely inhabited. (The most probable targets are KOMSOMOLSK or UKRAINA. ) b. Upon successful completion of this mission, and in the absence of new evidence of an increased Soviet interception capability, additional missions will be conducted against the other target areas in the Far East and European Russia. It is anticipated that the last missions to be launched will be those against the extreme northern 25X1 targets. Approved For ReleaT flp f CRM'kf IA-RDP62B00844R000200080053-7 fft Approve- for Releas?P3~-RDP62IW844RO00200080053-7 EGR 25X1 6. Timing: It is anticipated that the operations referred to above can be completed approximately as follows: a. Those against three of the four Far Eastern target areas in March, with a possibility that coverage of KAMCHATKA may not be obtainable until April. b. Those against four Siberian target areas 25X1 25X1 y 7/15 April. c. Those against four target areas in western Russia (excluding the WHITE SEA area) probably by 1 April; the WHITE SEA target area by 15 April. 7. Future Planning: Upon the conclusion of the above operations, the prospects for this activity will be re-examined with particular reference to: new or outstanding requirements for reconnaissance, intelligence then available on Russian interception capabilities, and the status of developments which might reduce the venerability to interception. On the basis of this study plans for the future of the activity will be formulated and will be reviewed with higher authority. Approved For RJ&Pe 89 TS-164857 Total 3 pgs. CIA-RDP62B00844R000200080053-7