WASHINGTON ROUNDUP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100120015-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: September 13, 1976
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

k---?`""' AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY
2RTXCLE APPEAkEDApproved For Release ~d0?W#,'YR'IA7-ik88-01314R0001
VI
Henry's Slant Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger directed the Central Intelligence Agency to
slant U. S. estimates of the Soviet Tupolev Backfire bomber's range capability,
White House officials are charging. Kissinger ordered that the range estimate be re-
duced tocoincide with the present U. S. position in the strategic arms negotiations
now under way behind the scenes by Kissinger, according to a White House staff
member. Other Administration officials corroborate the story. Kissinger already has
conceded. to. the Soviets that the Backfire will not be considered in the heavy
bomber category in the treaty negotiations and is making sure intelligence estimates
confirm. his position, the White House official added.
The way in which the estimate was derived was through intelligence data pro?-
vided to McDonnell Douglas. The aerospace firm completed an analysis under con.-
tract for the CIA to determine the supersonic Backfire's capability. A 3,500-naut. mi.
range estimate reached by McDonnell Douglas was accurate, the White Douse offi.?
cial said, but the data provided were not all of the information available to U. S. in.-
telligence officers. Only those data the CIA wanted to provide the company were.
offered to achieve the desired results supporting Kissinger's position, according to
the official.
Different Approach Similar study is now in progress for the Pentagon by McDonnell- Douglas., but it is
based on a -different set of data-all the information available to Defense Dept. in.-
telligence officials. That study's preliminary results revealed the Backfire's range is
. 1 closer to the original U. S. intelligence estimate of 6,000 naut. mi., clearly marking
the aircraft in the heavy bomber category that would be counted in the 2,400 strategic
delivery vehicle limit set in the Ford-Brezhnev Vladivostok agreement. The Ford
Administration is preparing to consummate a treaty based on Vladivostok permit..
ting the Soviets to operate the Backfire as an intermediate-range bomber and
through other concessions limiting U. S. cruise missiles.
Since the McDonnell Douglas/CIA study, the Pentagon has pulled together top-
ranked propulsion and aerodynamic experts from around the nation to examine the
study. They have concluded there is no validity in the estimate of the Backfire's range
being only 3,500 naut. nu. McDonnell Douglas officials declined to talk to AVIATION
WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY about the studies, claiming national security is in-
volved.
Approved For Release 2005/01/11 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100120015-6