Wearing A Secret On Their Sleeves

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46376-2000Aug29.html

By Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 30, 2000; A23

As security incidents go, the case of the National Reconnaissance
Office (NRO) shoulder patch may lack the intrigue of a Russian bug
planted in a State Department conference room or the mystery of
missing tapes loaded with nuclear warhead secrets from Los Alamos
National Laboratory. But for pure guilelessness, the NRO patch may be
in a class by itself.

Amateur satellite observers who track the orbits of classified U.S.
intelligence satellites say the embroidered patch, distributed to NRO
employees to commemorate the Aug. 17 launch of a Titan IV, clearly
revealed the rocket's secret payload--a radar-imaging Lacrosse spy
satellite.

"This is most extraordinary," said retired CIA scientist Allen
Thomson. "It appears that the NRO has given away significant
information in advance of the current Titan IV mission in, of all
things, a shoulder patch."

One need not be a spy to figure this out:

A Lacrosse radar-imaging satellite, unobstructed by clouds or
nighttime, uses radar beams to image objects on Earth. The patch
includes a slogan, "We own the night."

With the latest launch, four Lacrosse satellites are believed to have
been deployed, with Lacrosse 1 deorbited in 1997 after nine years of
service. The patch shows four satellites circling the globe, including
one that is black.

A distinctive feature of the school bus-sized Lacrosse is the wire
mesh that covers its antennas. The patch depicts an owl, the launch
mascot, wearing what appears to be wire mesh glasses.

But the most revealing detail in the patch is the approximate
inclinations--the angle at which an orbit crosses the equator--of the
embroidered satellites.

Before the launch, Ted Molczan, a leading satellite tracker from
Canada, guessed the Titan IV would be carrying a Lacrosse, given the
size of the shroud covering the payload. But he didn't know whether
the satellite would be launched into an orbit with a 57 degree
inclination, the same orbit as Lacrosse 1 and Lacrosse 3, or an orbit
with a 68 degree inclination, the same as Lacrosse 2.

After he happened to see the patch on Florida Today's Web site, his
quandary was resolved: The patch clearly showed the new satellite at
the 68 degree inclination. So Molczan put his prediction out on the
Internet before the launch: "If this interpretation [of the patch] is
correct, then I believe that the available clues now point more
strongly to a 68 degree inclination."

And wouldn't you know: The Titan IV lifted off and put its payload
into orbit_with a 68 degree inclination. Molczan and his fellow
satellite trackers have been eyeing it ever since, racing through the
night sky at thousands of miles an hour, more than 500 kilometers
above Earth. And now they're certain: It's a Lacrosse.

"If they're overhead, they're clearly visible to the naked eye,"
Molczan said. "Lacrosse is about as bright as the stars that make up
the Big Dipper."

Art Haubold, an NRO spokesman, seemed faintly annoyed by Molczan's
predictions. "I'm not going to get into whether or not I felt [the
patch] went too far," Haubold said. "As I say, there are explanations
for all parts of the patch. People are always speculating about what
our classified missions are, and this launch is no different. The
payload is classified, and obviously, we don't discuss it."

For those interested in viewing a government secret as it zooms
through the sky over Washington, satellite trackers using software
available on the Internet calculate that what they say is Lacrosse 4
will orbit the Washington area, 42 degrees in the sky at a
west-northwest bearing, at 4:36 a.m. Thursday.

Unraveling a Mystery

Amateur satellite observers say a patch distributed by the National
Reconnaissance Office revealed the secret payload of a Titan IV
launched Aug. 17.

Besides representing owl eyes, the image symbolizes a Lacrosse spy
satellite's mesh antennas.

Slogan refers to the spy satellite's radar imaging, which works at
night or through clouds.

Four bird shapes represent the four Lacrosse satellites believed to
have been deployed so far.

The black one refers to Lacrosse 1, deorbited in 1997.

Two of the birds are shown flying with a 57 degree inclination, the
same as Lacrosse 1 and Lacrosse 3. The other two are shown flying at a
68 degree inclination, the same as Lacrosse 2 and, apparently,
Lacrosse 4, the secret payload.


*==============================================================*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;  Intelligence
without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
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