142. Editorial Note
At the meeting of the National Security Council on September 12, Allen Dulles began his oral briefing as follows:
“The Director of Central Intelligence said he would first deal with the circumstances around the Soviet announcement of the successful launching of an intercontinental ballistic missile. He pointed out that on July 19 last, he had briefed the Council on the newly-established long-range guided missile range in the Soviet Union. Since that time, hard evidence had accumulated that this missile range was a fact, and that it extended a distance of 3500 nautical miles, from Tyura-Tam to Klyuchi in Kamchatka. Such a range could support limited missile flight testing.
“Thereafter, Mr. Dulles read the text of the Soviet announcement of the successful launching of an ICBM. He commented that the intelligence community could not say for certain that the Soviets had actually successfully tested such a missile along this range, but there were certain facts and indications which lent support to this contention. Our coverage of the Tyura-Tam site was not yet adequate. Nevertheless, we did not find certain indications of activities which we would have expected to find if the missile which was fired had been an ICBM. Of course, some such activities could have escaped us. In any event, there had been some [number not declassified] missiles fired over the Kasputin Yar range over the last [2 words not declassified], and between [2 numbers not declassified] of these missiles were estimated to be multi-stage weapons.
[Page 594]“We are currently re-examining our previous estimate that the Soviet Union could have an operational ICBM capability in 1960 or 1961. We may have to change this estimate. We consider this question to be one of the highest possible priority. We are likewise re-examining our previous estimate of the production by the Soviet Union of heavy bombers. We are not seeing as many on the airfields as we had expected.
“Secretary Anderson reminded the Council of the lengths to which we went some time ago in order to obtain a Soviet MIG aircraft, offering a reward if such an aircraft could be flown out of the Soviet bloc. Could we not succeed in obtaining the defection of some one of the brilliant Soviet scientists who are working in the missiles field by making a public offer of substantial monetary reward and security? There must be many discontented scientists in the Soviet Union.
“Mr. Dulles said he doubted the wisdom of making a public statement offering rewards of the sort suggested by Secretary Anderson. Any Soviet scientist of the caliber envisaged would know perfectly well that we would be very happy indeed to give adequate support, financial and otherwise, to any defector.” (Memorandum of discussion; Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)
Allen Dulles briefed the NSC on the Soviet guided missile range on July 18, not July 19, as noted above. (Memorandum of discussion; ibid.) His briefing summarized the conclusions of NIE 11–5–57, which was not declassified. (Department of State, INR–NIE Files)
The text of the Soviet announcement of its successful ICBM is printed in The New York Times, August 27, 1957, page 6.
At the next meeting of the National Security Council on September 23, Allen Dulles again reported on the Soviet ICBM program:
“He referred to his briefing on this subject at the last meeting of the National Security Council, when he had reported the possibility of [2 words not declassified] flight test of a Soviet ICBM. Since that date further evidence has been acquired by the intelligence community, and Mr. Dulles said he would read their latest findings. These findings were, in substance, that the Soviet Union has probably flight-tested [12 words not declassified]. As yet, the intelligence community had no evidence as to the range, accuracy, or specific character of the missiles fired.
“After giving further data on the more numerous firings of shorter-range Soviet missiles, Mr. Dulles pointed up the conclusion that the USSR now has the capability of initiating ICBM flight testing. [1 sentence (27 words) not declassified](Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)