Approved For Release 2006 0 05 - i ME I manna j Of ce of Operatione I Somat Staff In all recent wars much technical intelligence has been derived from the exmnination and testing of enemy materiel No activity come- parable to the Sonnet program existed however in the pre-CIG days In 19115-116113 must be recalled that we were emerging from a period in which our military alliance and wartime sympathies rendered repugnant to new the idea of trying to discover mat the Russians were going to do and what they were going to do it with In August 1911 a meeting was held by representatives of the IAG agencies to discuss the possibility of examining articles produced within the Soviet sphere of in uence as indices of Soviet capabilities in war and peace Nothing resulted from the meeting except a general indorsemexrt of the Scheme and a tacit recomnendation that sanething be done about it preferably by CIA ILLMB By 1919 considerably more American concern with Soviet intentions and capabilities was evident and the Somat idea was revived 009028 w- Approved For Release 2006 10 05 sha ET 1 October 19149 a State Department dispatch from Moscow euphaeized the importance of collecting and enelyzing Soviet materiel In December ORE submitted requirements for the acquisition of several items of Soviet production The difficulty of fulfilling these re quirements led to a series of conferences desigaed to establish an integrated program for getting on with the business This pmgran was implmented 26 July 1950 by the of a Chief Somat Staff who with a secretaryr made up the total per-- eonnel until 19 Septanber 1951 Operations were so limited that very little of the fund of provided for the project was expended 25 in accordance with the oriivinal lan For the sum or has allocated to be 25x1 made available as needed A project approved 18 June 1951 for Fr 52 provided for four eld collection teams to participate with the military services in obtaining and analyzing 25x1 25x1 25x1 This endeavor naturally called for enlargnent of the staff SEGBET Appmved For REIPBQG 7'0082 101 05 25X1 25x1 25x1 Approved For Release 2006 10 05 seca r Milka Wu idmmn As presently constituted the Somet staff has no field organiza- tion but operates out of headquarters on temporary duty In the field it relies on the facilities already established by the Intelligence Agencies During fiscal year 1951 the Somat Staff produced and released 25x1 Information Reports of the Series covering 25x1 items With the exception of one report ev ueted all evaluations of this output were either of considerable value cr of value During fiscal year 1952 to 20 January 1952 21 CIA Information Reports have been produced by the sonnet Staff representing the analyses of operate items No evaluation lower than has been reportetlm Me To date 20 January 1952 the swat staff has succeeded in collecting items of soviet and Satellite production The difference between the umber of items collected land the number of items for which analyses have been reported is composed essen- tially of items not warranting technical exploitation because of their poor condition items turned over to other IAC Agencies for technical Approved For Refease 2006 10 05 seas 8Ukj commons examination and reporting appropriate to the petmtial of the selected agencies certain items found more valuable because of duplication and other factors for operational use than for intelligence exploitation and items in process of examination for which reports will be issued later Neither the nether or items collected nor the number of reports released is by itself an accurate index of production because an item may consist of a box of identical pills capable of yielding information only from a limited series of tests or it may consist of a complete vehicle or aircraft comprising thousands of components each of which warrants some technical examination Similarly a report may consist of five sentences 'brunebnu 25x1 consist of 1565 pages of print The only type of publication ever issued by the Somat Staff is the CIA Information Report Somat information reports are distinctively numbered in a series All Sovmat report numbers contain the prefix 1 SEGBET 25x1 Approved For Release 2006 10 05 CIA 00022R000300050002 4 5 SEBHET nu wanes um Actual items of Soviet and Satellite production are collected in accordance with remlirenents coordinated by the Somat Staff through action of the Departments of State Amy Navy and Air Forces as well as by field personnel of the OS and Contact Division 00 Collection of items is usually adequate for purposes of techni al -- -- - in very stall numbers while 13811333 3 25x1 25x1 Through this interpretation the Techniques and Methods Division of ORR is able to make accurate esti- mates concerning Soviet production in various categories as well as the cost to the Soviet ccommy in terms of manpower materials and machine capacity inherent in that production 25 with are located and 25x1 selected in accordance with 25x1 the requirements of the at Division ORR SECRET Approved Approved For Release 2006 10 05 mum i rukd iiou 25x1 In addition to collecting somat itans 25x1 the Somat Staff collects infomation about material objects of Soviet and allied production through technical examinations of the actual items These technical examinations mw consist of chwicel physical metallur- gical or other analyses Such analyses are performed by U S Govemnmt technical facilities such as the U 3 Bureau of Standards by educational institutions such as the Stevens Institute 01' Technolog and by commercial and industrial organizations as the U 5 Steel Corporation Du Pent and the Corporation Arrangenente for technical work are completed by personnel of the Somat Staff with the assistance of appropriate CIA Staffs and Services Initial contact with nmwgoverment facilities is made by 25x1 which frequmtly acts as agent for the Sonnet Staff in field activity necessary to complete specific tests U S Govemnent technical facilities are approached initially through SEEBEI Approved For Belease 2006 10 05 SECRET you wmmnou WOOD Activities necessary to complete required tests are then controlled by the Sonnet Staff The firet attempt to accomplish inter-agency coordination necessary to prevent duplication mogymateriel object intelligence-exploitation activities of all agencies wee through the formation of a sub-cmittee of the Scientific Intelligence Committee which was called the Joint Soviet Materials Intelligence Committee J 3110 During August of 1950 representatives from each of the no Agencies were appointed to serve on the JSMIC the CIA providing the Chairman - Thie cmm ttee was never effective in any way The representative of the Department of the Amy held from the no CIA program for the exploitation of Soviet and Satellite objects other than consumer's goods was legitimate and that all exploitation of captured military equiment am supplies was a function of the agencies comprising the Department of National Defmee SEBIET Approved For Reiease 2006 10 05 swan 8 43m These objections with attendant timeuconsmning debates and redrafting of terms of reference and the soonudiscloeed lack of authority on the part of cmmittee members to act finally led the SIG to recommend the abolition of the ENIC In this reoamnendation which was accepted and acted upon 23 May 1951 the SIG held that coordination and planning of the actions of the Somst Program were not functions properly assigned to a subcommittee of the SIG Thus was the Somat program dealt a blow in its infancy Lacking authority to direct coordination the SIG subconmittee proved inept in persuasion designed to accomplish coordination by mutual agreement A large measure of resentment brewed by this mmeuvering was the bequeathed to the Wet Staff Fortunately with passage of time and changes of most of the aitagonism has evaporated Early in 1951 the JCS had directed the JIC to work on the problem of coordinating military handling of Captm'ed Enemy Materiel GEM As created and a result the Joint Materiel Intelligence Agency JMIA Was assigned the mission of coordinating the program of the exploitation of foreign SEWET WM Approved For Reiease 2006 70 05 3 9 SEth I $0th cquipnent and the diaem nation of information concerning it The CIA is given representation on JHIA through an advisor to the Director MIA By fortunate coincidence it happens that this adviser in a member of the Staff and by arrangement with that concern State and ABC RI also represents their interests in matters mm Soviet objects 151 each of the three non-military agencies Currently no fennel requirement for coordination of activities of the somat type with those of foreign Governments has been placed on the Office of Operations Liaison has been established however on Soviet material matters 25x1 Reports of the technical amination of Soviet and Satellite objects are 25x1 exchanged between the CIA to employ certain collection facilities in acquiring needed items for Sonnet 9118137318 and to obtain certain technical services in the analysis of items in which 301 is interested mm Approved For Reiease 2006 10 05 SEGRET SECURITY INFORMIIUH SECRET Security Information A major obstacle to the accomplishment of the Sovmat mission has been the dearth of opporturity to acquire or even to examine Soviet products traditionally the USSR has been an exporter of materials and an importer of finished products While substantial progress has been made the USSR is still far from producing a significant surplus of processed items for export Such items as are exported are likely to be placed utere trey will do_the most political good for mother Russia This results in collection difficulties naturally attending attempts to take subsidised exports out of Communist hands without breach of US Security likewise Soviet military equipment repre- sentative of Russia's best technological achievements is heavily guarded and rarely committed in combat where it is exposed to cap- tare Despite all difficulties there is good potential for acquiring limited quantities of Soviet products for technical examination The problem is to make these limited opportunities count to the utmost iis can be only by the establishment of the very best requirements to guide collectors in spending money ttne and pos sibly men where the results will be most telling Educational ef- forts are continuing with the objective of drawing forth from all users of Sovmat infonuation the most significant guidance obtainable for the fonnulation of needed requirements SECRET SECRET Security Information For Reiedbe 2006 Us                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu