Reading Room

SCHEDULE OF ESTIMATED COSTS

INCLOSURE TO MEMORANDUM OF 14 FEBRUARY 1955

SUBJECT: Operation BRAVO-CHARLIE — Estimated Costs of Contemplated Field Trial

The schedule of estimated costs set forth below is furnished in supplement to the memorandum of 14 February 1955 and is to be treated in accordance with the security provisions governing the program. This Inclosure is forwarded under separate cover and is not to be associated with the principal memorandum in any file of a classification lower than . The figures set forth below represent the considered estimate of this Division as of the date of the present Inclosure and are subject to revision upon the conclusion of the technical inspection of the proposed vessel by the Office of Scientific Intelligence.

The estimates are presented in four parts, corresponding to the four principal heads of expenditure contemplated by the Division in the conduct of the field trial: the procurement and conversion of the vessel; the instrumentation and technical preparation; the personnel, security, and operational support; and the contingency reserve. The aggregate figure is set forth at the conclusion of the schedule. All figures are stated in United States dollars at the prevailing rates and are inclusive of such allowances for fluctuation in commodity prices and labor rates as the Division has been advised to incorporate.

UNDER THE FIRST HEAD, the procurement and conversion of the vessel, the Division estimates the following costs. The vessel proposed for the trial, being a converted patrol craft of approximately ninety-five feet presently held in inactive status at , is to be transferred to the program at a nominal valuation of , in accordance with the standing arrangements applicable to the transfer of inactive naval stocks to this Agency. The reactivation of the vessel, including the survey of the hull and machinery, the replacement of such components as are found unserviceable upon survey, and the trials necessary to verify the seaworthiness of the vessel prior to its commitment to the program, is estimated at . The conversion of the vessel to the configuration required for the trial, including the modifications to the deckhouse necessary for the accommodation of the instrumentation and the strengthening of the principal frames in the manner advised by the technical group, is estimated at . The provisioning of the vessel for the trial, including fuel, lubricants, water, and such stores as are required for the operation of the vessel during the trial and during the period of recovery, is estimated at . The aggregate under the first head is accordingly estimated at .

UNDER THE SECOND HEAD, the instrumentation and technical preparation, the Division has been advised by the Office of Scientific Intelligence that the instrumentation required for the trial is to be furnished principally from the resources of the facility and is not to be charged against the funds of the present program. The Office has, however, advised that certain items of instrumentation are to be procured from outside sources, principally photographic and chronometric equipment of types not held at the facility, the cost of which is estimated by the Office at and is included under the present head. The installation of the instrumentation aboard the vessel, including the necessary modifications to the electrical system of the vessel and the provision of such auxiliary power as the instrumentation is reported to require, is estimated at . The calibration of the instrumentation following installation and prior to the trial, to be conducted at the facility by personnel of the technical group, is estimated at . The aggregate under the second head is accordingly estimated at .

UNDER THE THIRD HEAD, the personnel, security, and operational support, the Division estimates the following costs. The crew of the vessel during the trial is to consist of officers and ratings, all to be drawn from personnel cleared to the program and to be furnished by under the standing arrangements applicable thereto. The compensation of the crew during the period of preparation, trial, and recovery, including such allowances for hazardous service as the Director of Personnel has been advised to recommend, is estimated at . The security of the conversion yard during the period of preparation, including the maintenance of the cover story now in effect at and the screening of such yard personnel as are not cleared to the program, is estimated at . The operational support of the trial, including the disposition of such auxiliary vessels as are required for the recovery of the principal vessel and for the maintenance of the security perimeter during the trial, is estimated at . The aggregate under the third head is accordingly estimated at .

UNDER THE FOURTH HEAD, the contingency reserve, the Division has set aside a figure representing approximately fifteen per centum of the aggregate of the preceding heads. The contingency reserve is intended to defray such unanticipated costs as may arise in the course of the preparation and conduct of the trial, including in particular the costs that may be occasioned by the lateral positional drift referred to in Annex B to the memorandum of 7 November 1954, which drift the technical group has been at pains to emphasize will be of substantial magnitude at the temporal displacement contemplated for the trial, and may require the disposition of auxiliary vessels at a distance from the nominal point of initiation greater than would otherwise be necessary. The aggregate under the fourth head is estimated at .

THE AGGREGATE OF THE FOUR HEADS, representing the total estimated cost of the contemplated field trial, is . The discretionary allotment presently available to this Division for the conduct of the program, drawing upon the residue of the reserve identified in the directive of the Chief of Operations of 4 May 1954, is . The supplemental funding requested by the memorandum of 14 February 1955, representing the difference between the aggregate estimated cost and the said discretionary allotment, is accordingly .

The Division observes that the figures set forth above do not include any provision for the costs that may be occasioned by a renewed sequence of preparatory trials at the facility, should the conduct of the field trial be postponed beyond the second quarter of the present year and the calibration of the apparatus consequently be found to have drifted beyond the limits within which the trial may safely be undertaken. The Division has been advised by the Office of Scientific Intelligence that such a renewed sequence would entail a further cost of the order of , and that the said cost would in such event be the subject of a separate request to be submitted by the Office in due course.

The Division further observes that the figures set forth above do not include any provision for the costs that may be occasioned by the conduct of subsequent trials, should the contemplated field trial yield results warranting the further extension of the program. The matter of the funding of subsequent trials is reserved to be addressed in a separate communication upon the conclusion of the contemplated trial and upon the consideration by this Division and by the Office of Scientific Intelligence of the results thereof.

W. SEATON

Division Chief, Western Europe