f p mPa 5 £7 fv TOP-SECRET s e pie ae miD Se A : WU ae Re pe ast nw, paper of this kind the "high percentage" phrase. While the Secre- tary would agree with the percentage figures as to kill capability cited by Dr. Killian and would certainly agree that within reasonable limits every effort should be made to improve our capability, it was the belief of the Department of Defense that the phrase in issue should be eliminated from the paper. This is particularly so at this time, inasmuch as Defense is not ready to implement such a requirement even if it is included in the paper. Secretary McElroy then called on Deputy Secretary Quarles for further comment. The latter indicated that the Defense Department experienced considereble difficulty in trying to determine the degree of increase intended by the phrase in issue. He stated that in the event of a small raid on the continental United States, we would expect to inflict a relatively high percentage of kill; whereas if the raid were a large one, we would not expect to have such a high -kill capability. He noted further that the phrase in issue could be . 80 construed as to require a doubling of our air defense costs. He stated that the Defense Department would, of course, like to see a better air defense capability than we presently have, and went on to point out that war games which were conducted in the past reflect that under our present defense programs we have what is regarded as a solid deterrent position. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff indicated that the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not know the precise meaning of this phrase. He thought that the language “high percentage” could be so construed that if it were fully implemented the Defense Department wouldbe put in the position where it did not have money left to do anything else in other important defense areas. The Acting Director, Bureau of the Budget, indicated that his Bureau wes encouraged to see the Defense Department supporting the Budget Bureau's position. He indicated that it was the Budget view that if the phrase in issue were included in the policy statement, it would almost imply a crash program for air defense against aircraft and missiles. The Budget Bureau was opposed to such a crash program. ne * eee eo. . - * - < ae -5- 2 ’ v aE 4 De = ihe x tS _* kL. woe PD od ae f ate. “aig he 4 Baeos “T IGT iE Bee nee re . x . ' : Secretary McElroy thought that the problem under discussion was but one of a number of questions which would have to be faced by the country. He said that this kind of problem is betoming more complex. Today we must defend against aircraft, missiles and satellites; tomorrow who knows what we will have to defend against. He mentioned that in time we may have aircraft that will travel three times the speed of today's planes, and we may have to prepare defenses against planes of such speed. He observed that the speed with which weapons technology is moving raises and will continue to reise a variety of questions. Consequently, on a matter such as that at issue, we must ask what are the most important things that we should do, and to what extent should we do them. It was his is BLP i eee Sate _ \" GOP SECRET OLD Ree er ke