A SUPER FLYING AND SPYING MACHINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100140122-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 122
• Publication Date: January 9, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST A T
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/03: CIA
9 JANUAPI_ 1983
WAcHING-TCN FOSI
Jack Anderson
A Super Flying and Spying Machine
'
One of America's most spectacular spies of
the 1980s will be a high-flying machine called
the TRI. Like the super-snoopers before it, the
TRI is a product of the legendary Lockheed
aircraft plant, nicknamed "The Skunk Works."
In his secret annual report to Congress, De-
fense Secretary Caspar Weinberger wrote glow-
ingly: "A new era in tactical reconnaissance
began with the production of the first of 35
TRI aircraft in June 1981."
What is this wonderful flying machine that
has so impressed the defense secretary? My as-
sociate. Dale Van Atta,.has obtained several se-
cret Pentagon reports that detail the astonish-
ing capabilities of this newest spy-in-the-sky.
The TR1 is essentially a bigger and better
U2. the CIA spy plane that had its cover embar-
rassingly blown when the Soviets shot down
Francis Gary Powers back in May 1960. The
TRI's wingspan is 104 feet; its length, 63 feet.
Though it cruises at. a relatively plodding 430
miles an hour, it will have "Stealth" technology
to foil enemy radar.
What really excites the Pentagon is the
TR1's payload capacity. It can carry more than
a ton of sophisticated sensors for more than
3.000 miles at an altitude of 70,000 feet.
The TRI, Weinberger says in his report, will
"be able to survey the battlefield out to 100
nautical miles, spotlight specific targets out to
60 nautical miles, and provide limited moving
target indicator capability."
The one-man plane will give the theater com-
mander "24-hour, all-weather coverage of the
battlefield," Weinberger writes. By this he is
referring to tactical reconnaissance for a con-
ventional war-in Europe, say-rather than the
strategic reconnaissance provided by the U2
and another Lockheed plane, the SR71.
Unlike the U2, which specialized in wide-
angle photography, the TR1 will also have
"ears" to detect and target enemy radar and
other electromagnetic emitters.
Actually, the TR1 is merely the centerpiece,
the most glittering jewel, in a Defense Depart.
.vent program with the acronym TIARA-for
Tactical Intelligence-Related Activities.
Besides the new 'I'R1, TIARA calls for mod-
ernization of five other aircraft, including the
remarkable SR71, nicknamed the "Blackbird."
Believed to be the world
s fastest and highest-
flying plane, the SR71 reaches more than three
times the speed of sound at 80,000 feet or more.
Obviously, the Blackbird is hard to shoot
down, or, as a Pentagon report puts it, the SR71
Is the most survivable U.S. platform for manned
overflight of highly defended areas." In fact, since
it began flying over Cuba, Vietnam, China and
elsewhere In the 1960s, the SR71 has survived
more than 900 attempts to shoot it down. Only
one such attempt, by a North Korean missile
team in August 1981, was ever made public.
The Blackbird can see and hear with its sen-
sors at night and in all kinds of weather.
in one way or another, the design and capa-
bilities of the U2, the SR7I and the TR1 can all
be traced back to the brain of one of aviation's
superstars. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, who will
be 73 next month. Johnson, Lockheed's former
chief designer, still dabbles in the field. The
U2s, in fact, were known in Burbank and Lang-
ley as "Kelly's Angels"-a tribute to the thou-
sands of superb photographs of the Soviet
Union they brought back from the heavens.
It should be 'noted that, notwithstanding
Weinberger's delight with his sparkling TIARA,
not everyone in the intelligence community
thinks the new TRI is such hot stuff, or that
the improved U2 and SR71 will satisfy the mili-
tary's needs in the future.
According to one top-secret review of tactical
intelligence requirements, the United States
should be aiming for ."the development of a
long-endurance (up to two days), high-altitude
reconnaissance aircraft."
The secret report added this warning:
"The TRI program should not be seen as a
substitute for a new reconnaissance aircraft,
inasmuch as TRI is essentially a slight upgrade
of the dbsolete U2. In the same area, the Pen-
tagon] should review the feasibility of a follow-
up on SR7I type aircraft, perhaps developed to
fly in the hypersonic (Mach-5 or above) range .
as an atmospheric skimmer. This system should
also be examined for its potential use against
ballistic missiles."
But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and
Cap Weinberger is obviously dazzled by the
TR1.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100140122-4