CONVERSATION WITH B(Sanitized) USAF D/NRO STAFF REGARDING ADDITIONAL JOINT PROCUREMENT OF U-2 AIRCRAFT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89B00980R000600040023-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 8, 2005
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: July 12, 1965
• Content Type: MFR

Approved For Release 2005.1T3 .;k;tA R 89B00980R0006000400
12 July 1965
Copy
SUBJECT: Conversation withi USAF,
D/NRO Staff, regarding Additional Joint Procurement
of U-2 Aircraft
REFERENCE: Memorandum from D/NRO tol
Col. Geary, dated 7 July 1965, u sect: Future
Needs for U-2 Aircraft
1. Having read the reference fromi with confusion
and concern, and having discussed my misgivings with Col. Geary,
I called to see if he could shed some light on exactly
what was required by the D/NRO and to see if additional time could
not be purchased in completing the reply. I asked for a change in the
two deadlines in the reference from 20 July and 1 August to 6 and 20
August. I also conveyed to my feeling that the paper
was remarkably unclear and cluttered with a good deal of peculiar
language on cost effectiveness.
2. disclaimed authorship of the reference and
said that he would seek clarification on it from I He
further added that he would propose the alternate dates which I have
noted above. Later in the day he called me back to tell me that he had
conferred with I land hadtold the latter of our stated feeling
that information in the detail requested could not be obtained in such
a short time.
3. What emerged then from his talk with the D/NRO was a require-
ment for certain basic information which eeded by
1 August with the understanding that whatever additional information
was required over the basic amount could be forthcoming in the weeks
that followed that time. Apparently the 1 August deadline represented
an extension granted by the Secretary of Defense to that
time for the supplemental fund requirement that would be necessary to
support in FY66 the initiation of an additional procurement of U-2's.
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There may also be the implication that) (wished to
clear this matter up before his retirement from the Undersecretary's
job in September. The basis identified by lunder the 25X1
1 August deadline were as follows:
a. How many new U-2 aircraft would be procured to meet
joint SAC and CIA requirements in the foreseeable future, i. e.
the calendar period through FY71. Included in this compilation
for planning purposes should be those aircraft which might be
required by NASA( I at present a total
b. Having agreed on a number for total production, at what
kind of pace should they be produced that is both technically
defensible and economically acceptable.
c. What would the price be of the total procurement of
aircraft and engines. The question of subsystems such as
cameras and ELINT equipment was not discussed but undoubtedly
will have to be before a final dollar figure can be firmed up.
However, it could be assumed that if production is slow enough
on the aircraft and engines, such needs for the time being might
well be met from existing supplies of cameras and ELINT systems
in the hands of SAC or ourselves. This point needs further
clarification.
d. What cost phasing would be adopted for the U-2L procure-
ment by years. Special reference apparently needs to be paid to
keeping FY66 costs as low as possible and on an expenditure basis
in order to minimize the impact of the unprogrammed amount.
In response to my questions used the tentative
figure o as what he thought might be a palatable
FY66 figure on an expenditure basis. He asked, of course, that
he not be officially held to such a figure.
e. Following the achievement of an operational status for
U-2L's, what are the projected costs for each year on a conservative
basis for operation and maintenance of the combined fleet. This is
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a difficult question to answer in view of the basically different
philosophies between SAC and ourselves on not only sortie rates
but maintenance structure wherein SAC uses largely military
maintenance and we use contractor maintenance throughout.
4. The morning of 12 July I was in touch wit
first and then Col. Geary on this subject, but between the two telephone
calls I also talked to Kelly Johnson. Kelly, Col. Geary and
General Ledford plan to meet in Washington 20 July on the general
topic of U-2L procurement. I proposed to Kelly what I had discussed
with namely forming a joint task group and going out
to Burbank to sit down with he and I n these questions but
Kelly expressed a preference for doing his homework on the five
principal questions alone before coming in on 20 July at which time
he said he would bring I Iwith him. Col. Geary and I agreed
that there needed to be joint consultation between his office and ours
on this subject in advance of Kelly's visit, accordingly it was agreed
that we would try to get together the morning of 14 July at 0900 in this
office. The meeting would be composed of himself,
1-7 enera edford,
ec , and myself. Col. Geary made a special plea for a manageable
meeting in terms of size. Kelly Johnson spoke of certain break-throughs
which he felt now lay close to grasp and which he would discuss when he
came in. I suspect from what he said that these deal with a completely
redesigned wing using the NASA theory of camber since he said that the
fuselage of his latest proposal would be the same as the original U-ZL
and the power plant would be ditto. I agreed to send Kelly a wire on the
subject confirming our telecon and outlining the basic points which
made with me on the phone on 9 July.
Deputy Assistant Di e t r
(Special Activities)
25X1
25X1
IDEALIST
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- DAD/OSA
- EXO/DDS&T
-D/TECH
- D/FA
- PS/OSA
- SD / OSA
- SS / OSA
- MD / OSA
- Chrono
10 - RB/OSA
DAD/OSA/JACunningham/mcm(12 July 65)
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