Today, our interceptor force is a year older than when I last appeared before you. Procured in the 1950's, these aircraft have accomplished their mission of providing intercept and destruct capability against a subsonic bomber threat that did not include standoff missiles. These interceptor forces have been declining steadily from a peak of over 3,000 in the mid-1950's. The changing threat dictates fewer, more advanced, interceptors capable of destroying missile-carrying bombers prior to their missile release points-be considered for the future. The interceptor must be able to move out rapidly to distant areas to find and destroy sophisticated aircraft at high or low altitudes and it must be able to accomplish this mission beyond the range of effective ground control facilities. We are considering several possibilities for this purpose, such as the F-12 and an adaptation of the F-111. We are currently conducting flight tests with the Y-12A.

In order to take advantage of the most advanced technology, the F-12 would use the basic SR-71 airframe and an advanced missile fire control system. Although essentially the same in appearance, the F-12 would be substantially larger than the recordbreaking YF-12A flying today. Weighing more than the YF-12A, it would have a substantial combat radius.

But an interceptor needs more than speed and range; it must also have killing power. This would be provided in either the F-12 or the F-111 with the ASG-18 fire control system and AIM-47 air-to-air missiles. Interceptors with ASG-18 need not depend on an extensive ground system to carry out their intercept missions. The AIM-47 missile performance is equally impressive.

The Air Force has developed considerable confidence in the F-12 concept through the flight test program on the smaller YF-12A. Using a prototype fire control system, the missile intercepted and destroyed a target. Between missile launchings, the YF-12A set nine world speed records.

We are requesting money in fiscal year 1967 to continue the YF-12A flight test program and the development of the F-12.

CLOSE SUPPORT FIGHTER

The close support fighter program is directed at defining a tactical aircraft for deployment in the early seventies. This aircraft will have capabilities that complement those of the F-111A and the A-7A, and will be based on data from operational evaluations and combat experience.

At this point, we are proceeding with studies that will definitize the aircraft characteristics and permit us to proceed with contract definition on the F-X fighter. We are requesting money in fiscal year 1967 to continue the F-X work.

NIKE TARGETS

The Air Force provides ballistic targets for the development and testing of the Army NIKE-ZEUS and NIKE X anti-ballistic-missile program. Specially configured reentry systems are designed, developed, and launched by the Air Force from Vandenberg Air Force Base to the Kwajalein radar net. Using surplus ATLAS missiles as boosters, the Air Force launched target vehicles for the Army in 1965.

The fiscal year 1967 budget request contains money for the design, fabrication, testing, and delivery of the next generation of target vehicles.

ADVANCED BALLISTIC REENTRY SYSTEM (ABRES)

Just as we strive for superior weapon systems, so do our adversaries. This is particularly true where weapons of massive destruction-such as intercontinental ballistic missiles are concerned. The natural consequence of this condition is for both ourselves, and our adversaries, to place considerable emphasis on improved reentry capabilities and effective defensive systems. The ABRES program is conceived to provide advanced developments and technology base for improving current reentry systems and for more effective, new reentry systems. It is a Department of Defense program in reentry vehicle technology and ties in with the NIKE targets program previously described.

The ABRES program is developing improvements in several areas for application against both heavily defended and undefended targets. This program is also providing the technology for attacking heavily defended targets.

During 1965, the Air Force conducted both full-scale and sub-scale flight tests on a variety of reentry vehicles. Ten full-scale vehicles, launched from the Western Test Range, provided radar detection data on different shapes and materials. In addition, other experiments were also carried along "piggyback" to provide more data. Twentytwo subscale ATHENA test vehicles were launched from Green River, Utah, into the White Sands Missile Range. The ATHENA program has performed exceptionally well in 1965. The ABRES flight tests have confirmed much of the laboratory work that is also a part of this program.

The money requested for fiscal year 1967 will permit continued laboratory experiments and a variety of flight tests.

TITAN III SPACE BOOSTER

The TITAN III space booster program satisfies the need for a single, versatile launch system to support Defense and NASA space missions. Using TITAN II and MINUTEMAN technology, the TITAN III program provides a complete system of standardized vehicles and facilities to place 22- to 15-ton payloads into orbit. By designing for a range of mission requirements rather than any single mission, the TITAN III has the flexibility to accommodate a wide variety of payload weights and orbits. This flexibility is gained through the appropriate combination of standardized "building blocks" and the use of versatile assembly and launch facilities. These facilities, known as the integrate-transfer-launch (ITL) facilities, provide for assembly and checkout of the TITAN III in its vertical launching attitude prior to its movement, also in the vertical position,