Date

Dec 7, 1961

Description

During Raymond Albright’s visit to SAC headquarter, briefers cited several examples of the “special relationship,” including the role of Ballistic Missiles Early Warning System [BMEWS] sites in the UK for warning SAC and British forces of missile attacks; SAC plans to purchase Skybolt missiles, which would also be available to the Bomber Command; and bi-annual SAC and Bomber Command targeting conferences. Another example of cooperation was the computations at SAC headquarters of the trajectories that would be used for Thor IRBMs deployed in the U.K. Albright did not provide details of targeting, but by 1962 “the coordinated Anglo-American plan involved the V-bomber force and Thors in attacks against the Soviet Union on 16 cities, 44 airfields, 10 air defense control centers, and 28 IRBM sites.”[15]

Albright noted that these examples of U.K.-U.S. practical cooperation tended to undercut a White House directive from April 1961 which favored downgrading the “special relationship” in favor of greater British integration into Western Europe, the desirability of a British decision “to phase out of the nuclear deterrent business,” and the lack of a need to “prolong the life” of the British bomber force if Skybolt was “not warranted for U.S. purposes alone.”

Source

DNSA, from RG 59, Central Decimal Files, 375/12-761

Document published in following posting(s):

The British Bomb and the United States - Part One

May 13, 2021

RA [Office of European Regional Affairs] – Raymond J. Albright to RA – Mr. Fessenden, “Visit to SAC Headquarters, November 27, 1961 – Hight Lights Which Relate to Possible Discussions in Paris During NATO Ministerial Meeting,” 7 December 1961, Secret