Approved for Release: 2013/06/25
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Secret NOFORN
Chapter 1
31
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attention to a section of the report about a “stripped or specialized aircraft” called the Lockheed CL-282.⁵³
By September 1954, Land’s Project Three study group had become very much interested in the Lockheed CL-282 design. Their interest grew even stronger when James Baker told them of Allen Donovan’s strong case for the CL-282 at the 24-25 September meeting of the ISP. It is not possible to determine exactly when the Land committee decided to back the CL-282; in fact, there may never have been a formal decision as such. In view of Land’s impulsive nature, he probably seized upon the CL-282 design as being a workable concept and immediately began developing it into a complete reconnaissance system.
During September and October the Project Three study group met frequently to discuss the Lockheed design and the reconnaissance equipment it would carry. Meetings were small, generally with fewer than 10 participants; Garrison Norton was often the only government official in attendance. At times outside experts joined in the proceedings. When the discussion turned to cameras and film, Land invited Dr. Henry Yutzy, Eastman Kodak’s film expert, and Richard S. Perkin, President of the Perkin-Elmer Company, to participate. For discussions on the J57 engine, the panel members asked Perry W. Pratt, Pratt and Whitney’s chief engineer, to attend. Kelly Johnson also met with the panel to review plans for the CL-282 system.⁵⁴
By the end of October, the Project Three meetings had covered every aspect of the Lockheed design. The CL-282 was to be more than an airplane with a camera, it was to be an integrated intelligence-collection system that the Project Three members were confident could find and photograph the Soviet Union’s Bison bomber fleet and, thus, resolve the growing “bomber gap” controversy. It was not just the Lockheed aircraft that had captured the Land group’s fancy; the plane was seen as the platform for a whole new generation of aerial cameras that several committee members had been discussing since the BEACON HILL and Intelligence Systems Panel meetings. James Baker was in the process of developing a revolutionary new
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⁵³ Memorandum for DDCI Charles Pearre Cabell from R. M. Bissell, Special Assistant to the Director for Planning and Coordination, “Aerial Reconnaissance,” 24 September 1954, DCI Records, job 80-B-1676R, box 25 (TS. downgraded to S).
⁵⁴ Killian, *Sputnik, Scientists, and Eisenhower*, p. 82.
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Secret
Approved for Release: 2013/06/25