GENERA' URTIS E LeMAY CHIEF OF STAfF US AF MEMORANDUM TO General LeMay DATE _3_l_J_u1_6_1_ Recommend you read the attached summary of Secretary Gonnally's and Admiral Burke's testimony before the Stennis Subcommittee u u io I have asked Plans to review the verbatim ' testimony for possible future use in JCS and Gongressi actions t C 6 -C 1- t V t i C RHE - L E I r t C tr t I- E I r t t t- ' SEt li -r - · HEARING RESUME ' L 28 July 1961 2150 h a MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD SUBJECT Hearings by the Prepw edness Investigat-ing Subcommittee Senate Committee on Am ed Services on DOD Ba111stic Missile Program 1 The Preparedness In ·estigating Subcommittee Senate Committee on Am ed Services continued their h i arings on tJ e DOD 'ballistic missile program at 0930 hours July 28 1961 by calling Secretary Connally and Admiral BUrke The hearings were coz duct e d in closed session and att-ended by the follow ng Members Democrats Republicans Senator Stennis Chairman Senator Saltonstall Senator Symington Senator Smith Me Senator Jackson Senator Cann O l Member of' full COOl r ittee Senator Thurmond Member of full CamrJ t t ee 2 Secretary Connally and Admiral Burke camnenced their at imony by reading into the record prepared stateme- n ts vhic h genexally outlined the following Secretary Connally referrea to a previous statement by Mr McNamara to the effect that 11 tbe major· in reevaluating this country's general -war position -was to reduce·our·dependence on deterrent forces 'Which are filghl y ulneJ -able to ballistic missile attack or llhich relyf or their survival on ii hair-trigger respOD ae Greater emphasis -was pl aced on the kind of ·rorces vhich could ride out a lliassive nucle ar attack and be applied w th deliberation under the complete control of coz stitut ed authority Ueing this statement as a focal point of his speech Secretary Connally stressed the flexibility of the Naval force 'Which provides stability and capability of a vide range of response by virtue of' tb ir great survivability and controll a bility He noted that t b e POLARIS was ideally suited to this concept in its ability to survive an enemy attack and respond inst-antaneouely or in a more delibel'a te fashion as in a second strike situation He mentioned the ability of' the POLARIS to be xetarge l P d readily and accurately its freedom fran the catastrophic conditions exist-1 ng on land if' an enany strikes first its invulnerability to bact-eriological or chemical we rte re or sabotage vben at sea He noted that it did not de pend on missile 18 rning system AICBMs or other Fortress Am erica t ype defensive measures for ite survival oreffectiveness With regard to the aY8 ilability of the POLARIS system be testified that six were at eea ith four ccanpletely o rational It was his expectation that the 29 nov authori2 ed w 1 11 be deployed by the summer of 1 65 In expanding on surv vability tbe Secreta cy stated there is J t the remotest sign that srcy of these s-ubmarines tho6e now on station have '6een detected on their patrol staticri E'- · In lle final remarks the Secretary dealt briefly w th the attack carrier strike force and the capability of coiicem·· OS -31 80-A -- - - a- DOWNGRADED AT 12 YEAR INTERVALS '$6 qiq y DE ll I 0 the manned aircraft aEsc cdated tl r r' 'li•ith Ee aleo stated that bis enthusiasm v i th the urd c r i det r t' '- t p- -ver c f the POLARIS system did not imply that it shoul d not be cO J lert en t-ed a r d int-zgrated with other st re t gic ll issile systems Admiral Burke's statem t £ Sin deal t pr m r1 ly with the POLARIS system with more detail on the progr-ess to date method of employme nt force level considerations and the current readiness In these connections he pointed out the same unique capabilities of the system and emphasized its virtual invulnerability to enemy ae tic•l' • TL e ar p 1-ent flexibility of being capable of launching tll e ' ' p in l 1 d 16 ttly or witl holding them f'or second strike capability was stressed along wit-h tha ability for rapid retargeting Admiral Burke supported tb e build-up to 45 subm U'ines on the basis of' the sponsibili ty of targeting 200 targets 1deotitied pr·imari ly as Soviet military instal J atiOl' a In discussing the attack can-ier force he emphasized their capability for both conventiontu S ld nuclear attack 3 In the questionillg that follwed the Comm itt«e explored in more detail the past record present status and capability and future plans for the POLARIS missile syi tem As a lesser hrue Navy olitnesses -we re asked to comment on the Navy's con vsntional war ca i -abili tie a and the need for add 1tional f mds to fo restal1 the gro'il1 lg obsolescence of t b e f'l eet M could be expected both -witnesses 6Xl r aesed their cettple te confidence ill the capability of the POLARIS e ystem and stz-es ed ite unique cha rac ristics invulnerability and f1e xibilit-y of' r-ee po sc Specific test-ill ooy develo d on the POLARIS was as follows a Program Objective_ Admiral Burke d ev lope d t N Y-J objective of 45 POLARll i submarines on the basis of preeer t jn fo1'11 at iori concerning Soviet targets T'r e Navy's position was to the effect tba t there ve1 ' 200 priority targe ts '1thin the Soviet Union t 1 iat should 1'e ae eigr i t o t F- POLAIU S Considerl ng B l on station force of 55'1 of the POLARIS f1eE- t- 8 tld t-b e r eed for aesigr 1 ng t110 missiles per target to achieve a 9- 1 aesu rar ce factor tl ds vould require a fleet of 45 submarines In other vords a 45 eubn U'ina force would give 25 boats on station each vitJ i 16 missiles for a total of 400 missiles J nd er questioning fran Senator Cannon and Mr KtI11bll l t ra s admitted tru t the assignment of t b e 200 top priority t a r-gets to e Navy POLARIS was actually Navy planning rether than an approved Joint- St aft pc·eition It -was estimated by Secretary Connally that tMe fore vc- ud cost approximately $14 billion including developing and proc- uri Jg tbe bard ware and providing necessary support elements b Status of' the Program Mr Kendall asked J 1miral Bur-ke vhat 1n bis opinion was the current reliability of' the POLARIS and the operational test results to date Admiral Burke replied that the ' 9MJITS _m 1Hile b s d a 6o'I reliability -w ith a CEP of 1 5 n m He expressed hope thst additional experience and im_prove ments--vould give a 90'I reliability Re sl a' -€ d that ·1n the 26 operational tests to date those fired fran a ubmar tr s 13 had been successf'ul Secr tary Connally remarked that of the 13 tha t failed 5 had been due to - arCt ASSff i·E 4'-·----·--- --· -J _ P · 51 T' tf·-E -b u u E 2 tc C 6 E t- _ 1 t- u _ i C t mechanical conditions tJ at bad been corrected and that these same tests today would have given 18 succeesec out o f' 26 Admiral Burke stated thatthese tests vere fully o i e rationa 1 t eets and that the submarine -was moviog at a speed of approximately 2Jmots at till Le of the firing No testimony -was developed as to the participation of' contractor t ersonnel nor details on vhat -was considered to be a fully opera tio l l test Admiral Burke stated that there are presently two submar' nes en station and that it is expected that three v 1 11 be on stat ion in the latt r part of' this year In this respect he observed that the Navy experience showed that 55' of the l'OLARIS force could be maii rtained or station with 30' available vitb in a· short period o f' tinle as an uo cCl llll'1itt-ed resene force The remaining 15' wuld be in port undergoing overhaul and available vithin a relatively short period of time With regard to the 30' uncammitt ed reserves these vere identified as subs just leaving their stations located at a tender or otherwise employed but pr-esumably not in dry- dock He estimated an ability o f' a few hours to a period o f' days to get this force on statior He pointed out however that these sul unarines could be put out to sea on short notice thereby decreasing t b eir vulnerability At the same time hs admitted that both this group and those in overhaul ·were vulnerable to attack u t FOLARIS A-3 In reply to questions from Mr Kendall Admiral Burke stat ed that the A-3 missile vas needed both frc m tbe standpoint of target coverage and also to providf a greater rea for deployment In bie opiniOI t J e in- c creased capability of the A-3 missile ·wou ld enable the Navy to launch an attack f'rom many directions vi th shorter lines of comunmications and increased invulnerability At the s time he admitted that the A-2 'WOll ld provide total target coverage and in doing so concedE d that the A- 3 - ra s E eded primarily to give greater f1E Xibility in deployme- nt He noted that the developnent job for the A-3 was extremely diff'icult and that it ws not possible to acceleI'ate ite schedtll ed operatiClDF Ll daw W h n elted abou t the originally specifie d 1500 n m rai ge for the FOLARIS Admiral B• irM testified that the two year accel era tion ill t b e ope1'8 tional date required the initial deployment o f' tht A-1 which has a maximum range of 1200 n m It was admitted that the int-rodllction of the A-3 into the force v ould reqiire lengthening of the launch tube and e ame moo U'ications to the earlier submarines d Invulnerability - N3W These issues are being discussed under one h ading ae each seem to affect the Committee's reaction to the other Senator Symington pointed out tbat the reapon eyi te ns nO or undE r df velop ne-nt are capable of traveling many times the speed of soimd and @est-ioried the ultimate capability of a FOLARIS submarine traveling at approximately 30 miles per hour Under these circumstances he felt that the l'OLARIS system vould be desirable only so long as it could not be detected Admiral B' rke replied categorically that the l'OLARIS surcn a rine could not be d etectecL· He emphasized tbat the Navy had investigated vi M-ually every possibility including SONAR radar and infrared without success He foresav li ttle frctr s -·-- •- ··-· 3 cc 219-£$ - -- · C ··· - - r • _ I cha nee that the POLARIS could l•a det-ected in the foreseeable future and could point to no R D techniques having JlY promise in this area Adudra1 Burke went on to state tl1 1t- e ert if' the POLARIS could be detected it vould still be better than a rzy f 1 xt d -z yst - t due to its mobility On the other band ·· in ansYer to other Canad ttee queetions Admira1 Barke stated that on1y g5'f of' the enemy submarines could penetrate our ASW nect Mr Kendall asked if this did not imply a similar capability tor the Soviets Admira1 B' rke replied that he w s confident that they did ' lot h ive this ability and that there vas apparently some intelligence information to confirm his opinion With regard to the ASW prog ram Senator Jackson asked if e lf' ficient funds were available to provide adequate coveraae Both Admira1 Burke and Secretary Connally admitt-ed tha t additioDF l fur1 i1ng could be used 11' l tl is area and that the POLARIS pr•ogra I had tended to reduce th reEources v i - able _ l n other areas of Naval responsibility e Communications As in the case of the Air Force testimony the SubcODl llittee was very interested in the int-egrtty of the Nar r cOlll llUil1cations systSlll Admira1 Burke testified tlat the Navy bad four se- parate methods of transmitting messages to the su1lmarine on station Ht noted the tin recent patrol these methods had been tested and that in no case had e n y_ of the submarines failed to receive a tl llnS l' J ssion In reply to g_111c st- l ons from Senator Cannon and others rega rd'ing the capability of the submarine to acknowledge or authenticate orders recE ived Admiral Ftrrke stated that- the submarine commanders are under strict ord er-s not to t-ra lsmit He pointed out that transmissions frail the submarine v ould permit detection ar d tl at as a result of°·the test to date the Navy was confident that messages v ould be received Undoubtedly this matter will receive corisid-erable emphasis with Navy 'Witnesses to follow 4 In addition to the t-estimoey on the POL IUUS syst em other ssues were developed 'With the n -tn sses as follo rs a Conventional Force In reply to que e tic ns from the Committee Admira1 Burke testified that th-e repla cement of obsolescent equ l i ment must be accelerated if the Navy v as to mairrtain it-s present capability He asked that the present rumual f'u o ding of l 7 bill ion dollars for this purpose be increased to 2 9 billion d ollars Thia latt-sr emOU lt would permit- the introduction of 50 new ships per year In this same area Admira1 B- u·ke pointed out that there ws now and -would continue to be a definite nee-d for manned aircraft He asked for contil' lued support in this area so that the Navy could maintain a balanced force b Nuclear Test I n reply to questions i'rcm Senator Thurmond and Senator Jackson Admiral Burke stated that in his opinion the JJirl ted States should resume nuclear testing B e testified that much could be gained in improving o'lll military capability through testing s nd he agreed that there was no certain knowledge that tb e So-v-iets v ere not testing at the present time With regard to the _Aeutron bomb Admira1 Burke felt that t bis- would be an extremely effective weapon · · -----·· - - z1r- Ut f ' Jfi r - 7-f T ·· ' C u t C - - L __ 5 There vere certain matt ers de veloped or direct interest to the Air Force and involvil g Air Force rrog rams as follovs a Mobile MI NlT CEMAlf Senator 'l'b u rmond asked 11' the apparent vulnerability of' fixed sit es to SO'Viet attack did not inc ase the importance of' mobile deplo ent utilizing railroads trucks etc Admiral Burke in bis reply stated that he 8 E Su1ned the Senator -was referrillg to the mobile MINUmt AN It -was his o p rdo u that the Air Force w s having some technical dif'f'icult1es nth this s 'liltem and bad decided to proceed vi th u ie· f'ixed MINlJrEMAN before undertaking t b mo'bile syate m He felt that there wassome question on the ability oi the mobile MINUTEMAN to retarget _ rn the aiialyais however ·Admiral Burke agreed that a mobile system vas d e§ rable and needed b Military Space Senator Stexm1s asked both Admiral Burke d Secretary Connally 11' they felt any concern that the SO'Viets vould de 'elop ttary space capability before this country Secretary Connally replied that vbile this w a a possibility i did not alam or concern hill1 at this tim His rationale llaS based on the capability of the Ia PM end his feeling tbat th ere vas no reason f'or the SO'Viets to t all e a more c plex and expensive awroach to strategic delivery Admiral ke added that in hi 5 opinion the ICBM force provided the most effective delivery system He v ent on to add that he cou1d see no real purpose f'or m ed space vehicles··s1nce man's function vould be only to read the instruments Ell ld tl ts could bettex• be perfonned by electronic and tel emetr-J equi P11eut Senatc r Stennis replied that perha i s··tb is was the ensi rer i e the ICBM force re presenting the most effective deliver r means but tl i t he vas still conceemed over a potential Soviet ttreat and domination f r an space ' c Fixed Mi sile Bases Throughout the testimony cont l l uf d reference ·was made to the vulnera1 1li ty of fixed miesile bases an cf the presumption ·that they could not survive in the years to come Admiral Burke in tesUfyiDg that tl e POLARIS missile voul d be targeted ga inst military targets same of' vhich were presumably bard ind cated that there 'Wll S same disagreement on the survivability of' hardened sites He rf ferred tc grouo d shock problems 8Ild the fact tbat such parts as the heavy silo doors could be j Illllled by the impact of nuclear weapons His t estimony therefore ws related not only to the ca pahilit-y of -the POLARIS missile against ha rd targets but al so the ability of' our hardened and disiiersed missile· sites to rlde out enemy attack and still function 8 6 The Navy presentation w 1 ll continue with the testimony cf Admiral Ra born and Admiral Hayward 1d their supporting v ltn esses No time has been fixed for these sessions although the Committee is hoping to resume sClll tetime next veek It is undei·stood tha t Secret ary McNamara and General Lemn1tzer are tentatively scheduled for Au gust 8 or 9 1961 LUfff··· '° ''c - · 5 · · S - Colonel USAF Chief Investigations Branch Congressior al COl llliittee Division Office of' Le gislative Liaison - l