itt vxmst EEE no 162 spy —hnitisinenicuintiemisee _ sile f erhe m Z A dez 1967 reovoumes won us commenter or cas Ata monte somme Chi—BFh Oigtele Revised Program T store gour eoncsen ont Aisesttstuction orer the east pound — revisions tn tha eotiented coot of the Siytolt progeny ont i wld Mies to be assured that the ontizated conte to coxplotion arent upon as a resets of the reriow you are zou conducting vill he realtatte ant wk mot have to he revised upard again There aro 2tzita to stat ve stud to wilting to pay for the Sigtult weapon epsten« 16 eases to no that the vase or Stolt so to be Amat privactly in tha Aefease peppeceston rote Sigtols fe not a good chote fiw counter—city retaliation besaass of the Tov ourrivel petesttal tn the varvize ontiroement of the basbere that carry 16 mnd the Tact that ‘er have to bo committed to attasty 17 at at% early in the was I s tos a gaod choico as a veapon for attacking high priority tlitery taspnts becaue 1s takeo hours to reach ito tarpate and fs 14 nilaor— whle on the gromd Thvever for defense exppressiony Slybolt hae the a Inpertant amaategie of botng oriisble when the beshore aree funner ublisty to anti—iater cefensen dod hepotully retnttvaly low cost pit there are eibstititen fur Cigtals tor datease prtestpatly Hount mag ent Mtnstomam« ous he mis to ebonkle to Entiobcaner detenece though 10 dn Misty to contion to hare ome effectiveneto ant it 16 emattablo and cheap Sigtolt wult be mpecior to Mimtczmn for the deferso mppresaton role only £ tt were to cost mbstentially lose foe Mimtessa has the atvantege of being bartinad Eat Aleperoed and presenting a set of targets intopondent of the B—52 woes« wa eottzated tetl PID ant ntttal frreotment corte for figtote n your seriead progron pastnge cone to 41 771 0 mtlMen of vith uiph 6 mitten vila resatn ahent of us ot the ent of dzosay 19GE Tn‘the currently epprovet progr thero will to shout 10h Agtelt mécaties on alert 2—5to Sous the cont of Stilt that vill erate o © uneat or us Me drsntng eit cont will cone to about $5 0 mitiicn pee atort mtosites by Coopurtseny the dnfkind fnrestzeat cost for ole § Wittoent iasterma RD want be stout 0 nico pee teste The Tosa fD for Himstenn sould not be affected by the addition of Scare Resthec Sterefore it wuld not to appropriate to foctute Himtcoma 9 M0 costs in this experteos If Siytele corte vere higher then nov $ £ eettested the system would ompare unforersity vith Misutezma fer the SECRET cog — #1 f Luk ftvssrd Frege tury 15 2 ues AInrintainiesirnitinntes goose — srlitle meson sec a SECRET sures enmphtennttine Sous ms to busters tact us sit mot cartiza the Eiytal progran unless w can to nevurcd tint 15 cm bo capietet sithln coos tomate that viTl mate it etetenttalty Tese than HMiostcom Zhereforey in the preparation of your revised Sorte to coopletton vould you pleare tear in mind thas f uo decide to Jemsary to eoattiue the Siptale prograsy 1t vill te vith the indore stenting that 1t vill have to be cploted within the cost totals agreed upon at that tize J Rsticr 3 Pn Hamara cer omas clen C patgee 1 i Prepared tys 4 Anntoomugerter m 6 — ma x—868 some wo mee § _ # SECRET sn TRANSCRIBED COPY FOLLOWS document 3453 page 1 of2 meMoranpum ror The secretary or Tie air rorce SUBJECT GAM—S7A Skybol Revised Program 1 share your concem and disstisetion ove th recent upward revisions in the estimated cost ofthe Sty bolt rogram an I would ike to be assured thatthe estimated costs to completion agreed upon asa result f the review you are now conducting will be realistic and will not have to be revised upward again there are limits to what w shouldbe wiling to pay fo the Skybolt wempon system 1t seems to me tha the value of Sty bolt isto be found primarily in the defense suppression role Skybolt is not a good choice for countersity realition because of th low survival potential in the wartime environment ofthe bombers that cany it and the fct that they have o be commited o attack if at all early in the war tis nota good choice as a weapon for attacking high priori miltary targets becaus it tas hours to reach its targets and itis vulnerable on the ground However fo defense suppression Skybolt has the important advantages of being avalable when the bombers are invulnerablity to ant—bomber defense and hopefuly relatively low cos But there are substiites for Sky bolt for defense suppression principally Hound Dog and Miniteman Hound Dog will be valnerabl to ant— bomber defense though tis likely to continue to have some effectiveness and itis avalable and cheap Skybolt would be superior to Miniteman for the defense suppression role onl ifit were to ost substantially less for Miniteman has the advantage of being hardened and dispersed and presenting a set o targets independent of the B—52 bases The estimated otal R D and ntl investment cost for Sky bolt n your revised program package come t S1 771 8 millon of which S1 554 6 mion will remain shead of us atthe end of January 1962 In the currently approved program there wil be bout 704 Skybolt missiles on alert B—525 Thus the cost of Si bolt that will remain head of us 1 ignoring sunk cos will come to bout 2 2 millon per ale misil By comparison th inital investment cont for addtional Miniteman ille would be about S¢ milion per misle The total R D for Miniteman would not be appropriate to include Minuteman R D cos in this comparison 1° Sig boltcosts were higher than now estimated the system would compare unfavorably with Miniteman fo the defense suppression role pager or2 These considerations ead me to believe tht we should not continue the Skybolt rogram wnfess we can be assured that t can be completed within cost toals that will make it substantially Jess than Minuteman Therefore in the preparation of your revised cost o completion would you please bear in mind that i we decide in January to continue the Skybolt program it wil be with the understanding that t will have to be completed within the cot totls agreed upon at that time