existing microwave links into the United Kingdom and Germany as the result of those phaseouts of those links in France. Mr. SIKES. Are you able to make use of the facilities and equipment which we had in France? General GERRITY. Yes, sir, we have. We have removed that and we are using them in other places in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Mr. SIKES. Will this request for funds complete the procurement portion of FRELOC program? General GERRITY. Yes, sir; it will complete the most essential programs associated with it. There is some further requirement for expansion of existing links and replacement of equipment that will not meet reliability and channel requirements. They will be included in subsequent budgets. Mr. SIKES. Can you make an estimate of those costs? (The information follows:) AIR COMMUNICATIONS-FRELOC In addition to the funds requested in FY 1967 and FY 1968, the Air Force is estimating additional costs of $4.6 million in FY 1969 and $.6 million in FY 1970. Mr. SIKES. It is stated that the reason for the replacement of the German microwave facilities is that the existing system operates in a frequency band that must be vacated on or prior to mid-1969. Why is that? General GERRITY. A large portion of this existing system of microwave installations was installed during the 1953 to 1959 time period, and consists primarily of equipment manufactured in Germany. The system operates in a megahertz band of about 2000 and this band has been allocated to commercial TV. The original date of phaseout was in November 1967. However, because of the necessity of moving our forces from France, the German Government extended the date to 1969. We are replacing eight of the most critical links during this calendar year with prior year funds. These are bringing us up to the 4000 and 5000 magehertz bands and they will be completed by the end of this year. Mr. SIKES. When will you actually vacate the lower frequency bands? General GERRITY. We will vacate the band after the installations are completed with our fiscal 1968 funds. This will be in about the mid-1969 time period. Mr. SIKES. There is a 50-percent increase in contractual engineering support of the overseas automatic switch program. Why is that necessary? General GERRITY. In 1967 our funds in the amount of $4.6 were for the contractual engineering and installation of the Autovon switches. Because of the slippage of the program, no contract O. & M. funds were required in 1967. The increase in 1968 is for additional contractual engineer support and the initial increment of contract operation and maintenance of the installed switches for the first year. After the first year we are going to try to go in-house on the maintenance. Mr. SIKES. There is a 300-percent increase in funds in support of the automatic secure switching system. Why is that necessary? General GERRITY. That was because of a leadtime problem on the initial switches which caused us to defer our ancilliary equipment until fiscal 1968. Therefore, high cost for this fiscal year provides for all of the ancilliary equipment required for the four Air Forcefunded switches. Procurement specifications are available now and we can procure the equipment competitively in this fiscal year. Mr. SIKES. You say you can? General GERRITY. Yes, sir. Mr. SIKES. The equipment is available? General GERRITY. The specifications are available for a competitive procurement. Mr. SIKES. The Air Force is initiating a program for the elimination of compromising emanations. Tell us about this program. We have a problem with those up here on the Hill too. Will your program help us up here? General GERRITY. I think I have some in the Pentagon, too, sir. (Discussion off the record). So we have a rather modest program of about $1.5 million a year over the next 3- or 4-year period to take care of all of our critical secure communications centers. Mr. SIKES. Do you think this will take care of it? General GERRITY. I believe, sir, insofar as we understand the state of the art at this time, it will do it. Mr. SIKES. We are interested in knowing whether you can, in fact, eliminate all of these emanations. General GoULD. As we go down the road in the future, the knowledge we now have about these emanations is that you can build more protection into the equipment as we build it. So the outlook for the future is good. We still have the problem for the next few years of patching up or fixing the equipment we already own. So the problem of minimizing radiations will be with us another few years, but the outlook for the future is good. Mr. SIKES. What do you estimate the total cost will be? General GOULD. We will probably spend at a level of about $1.5 million for the next few years. General GERRITY. In other words, something on the order of $5 million. PROCUREMENT OF RANGE AND SPACE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT Mr. SIKES. We will take up "Range and space communications." There is a request for $2.4 million, for the establishment of a consolidated system command operation and management complex at Vandenberg. What do you actually propose to do there? General GERRITY. What we propose to do is bring together a number of widely scattered operating centers that are concerned with the missile and space-launch operations. One center has range safety computers, radar tracking displays, and general status displays for range equipment in one area; another center has the mission control facilities for direction and control of the missiles and space system, and yet another center has telemetry processing facilities which are centralized. This will bring about more efficiency, and further, the MOL facilities must be integrated at some point to support the launches from the launch facility for the TITAN III-M. All of these functions would be centralized in one operational center, and I think that makes sense, sir; and will save us as well as improving our effectiveness. Mr. SIKES. Will this involve the construction or rehabilitation of any buildings? General GERRITY. It does, sir. Certainly not under this appropriation. It is under the construction appropriation. General GOLDSWORTHY. In 1966 it was $2.4 million program for the range tech management control center. Mr. SIKES. Is that the total construction involved? General GOLDSWORTHY. Yes. Mr. SIKES. What is the relationship between this item and the request for certain administrative facilities denied by the Congress in the military construction bill for fiscal year 1967? General GOLDSWORTHY. That was a range-control center of about $2 million, a much narrower scope project than this one. Mr. ŠIKES. Is it the same building? General GOLDSWORTHY. This equipment we are talking about in this appropriation would not go in that building. Mr. SIKES. How many launch operations were scheduled at Western Test Range last year, and how many were accomplished? General GERRITY. We launched actually 123 major missiles. Our people out there tried to count out how many were scheduled and they came up with a couple of thousand. Really, this is the exercise you go through in scheduling and rescheduling, depending on weather, availability of missiles and many other problems which go into considerations that lead to the final launch. So I do not know how to equate that. It certainly is not failure to launch, it is just all of the rescheduling that the operations people have to go through. Mr. SIKES. What is the schedule for the current fiscal year? General GERRITY. Our plan is somewhat up for the current fiscal year to approximately 140 missiles in space vehicles. Mr. SIKES. The Air Force is requesting funds for the completion of radio facilities to support the NASA APOLLO program. Why is that an Air Force responsibility? General GERRITY. Mr. Chairman, this is because we also need these things for the DOD program. The equipment that you have specifically in mind here I believe is the high frequency radio equipment that was procured and installed in Hawaii for general purposes of the Western Test Range communications support. This equipment will also be used for NASA APOLLO program and other DOD programs which require range support in the Pacific. Mr. SIKES. Why should not NASA fund it outright? General GERRITY. We are doing many items which are of joint use by NASA and ourselves and funding them in the Air Force. I understand, Mr. Chairman, the committee discussed this matter extensively with Dr. Flax when he was up here and, as I understand it, he advised the committee he was looking into the matter further. PROCUREMENT OF ORGANIZATION AND BASE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT Mr. SIKES. We turn to the project for organization and base support. To what extent are you providing closed circuit television systems in this program? General GERRITY. Sir, we have about a half a million in the program for some 23 weather-briefing stations for closed TV circuit support. This enables us to let one central weather officer brief a number of different operations centers at tactical bases, from his central facility. Mr. SIKES. Are there any funds for cable TV support in this request? General GERRITY. No, sir. This is strictly the operation right on the base. We also have some seven systems for hazardous maintenance area jet engine test facilities, where from a protected test stand you can examine certain portions of the engine you could not see otherwise. Mr. SIKES. There is no cable TV in this program? General GERRITY. No, sir. Mr. SIKES. List for the record the industrial facilities that are being requested in this program. The information follows:) INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES The FY 1968 request provides for the following industrial facilities: Expansions Dispenser and mine multipurpose (TFDM). Dispenser and bomb antipersonnel (TFDM). Preparation for shipment_-- Nonrecurring maintenance Replacement Total Millions $3.7 (2.0) (1.2) (.5) .3 2.2 .5 6.7 PROCUREMENT OF MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT EQUIPMENT Mr. SIKES. What is the nature of the automatic data processing equipment for which $23.9 million is requested under "Maintenance and support equipment"? General GERRITY. We have a program for 39 computers with ancillary equipment. I have a list of these computers showing the type and purchase price and the savings per year that we estimate through their use. Mr. SIKES. Provide it for the record. General GERRITY. All right. (The information follows:) Attached is a list of the 39 computers to be procured with the $23.9 million requested in FY 1968. |