Agendum 12311949 [MELBOURNE], 26 September 1949
SECRET
LONG RANGE WEAPONS PROJECT
Draft Memorandum of Arrangements Between Australian and U.K.
Governments in Regard to the Allocation of the Costs of the Long Range Weapons Project
INTRODUCTION 1. Attached, as Appendix ‘A’, is a copy of a Memorandum of Arrangements between the Australian and United Kingdom Governments to govern the operation of the Long Range Weapons Project. Para. 2 of that Memorandum defines the objectives of the project.
Complementary to the arrangements outlined in that document regarding the provision of facilities and control of the project, this Memorandum sets out the financial obligations of the respective Governments in respect of the agreed objectives. It does not cover other contemplated objectives such as the provision of a site and facilities for the ground launching of parachutes.
ESTIMATES OF COST 2. (a) In Australia.
Detailed estimates of cost of the facilities to be provided in Australia during the period 1st July 1947 to 30th June 1952 have been prepared. The estimated cost is A.26,405,000 as shown in the attached summary-Appendix’B’. [1]
(b) In United Kingdom.
Estimated cost of the U.K. programme of Research and Development on Guided Weapons and cognate work over the period 1st April 1947 to 31st March 1952 is S.23,206,000. Particulars are shown in Appendix ‘C’. [2]
Variations of estimated costs of individual projects within the objective will be accepted by the respective Governments, but inclusion of extensions involving the provision of facilities not covered by the estimates at (a) and (b) will be subject to further negotiation.
BASIS OF SHARING COSTS 3. It is agreed that, subject to paras. 4 and 5 hereunder, the Commonwealth and U.K. Governments will bear respectively that part of the expenditure in connection with this project which is incurred in Australia and the United Kingdom regardless of where the originating actions, e.g. orders, are taken, provided that if, for any reason, either Government is unable to carry out its planned programme on which the estimates of cost are based, the conditions of this Memorandum of Financial Arrangements will be subject to review at the request of either Government.
EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES NOT AVAILABLE FROM AUSTRALIAN SOURCES 4. The following arrangements will apply to the provision of all stores and equipment including aircraft, engines and spares required for or directly associated with the Long Range Weapons Project:-
(a) The cost of stores and equipment ordered in the United Kingdom or elsewhere other than Australia by the Ministry of Supply, including packing, handling and shipping charges F.O.W. [3] Australian port, will be met by the United Kingdom Government.
(b) The cost of stores and equipment ordered in Australia or elsewhere other than the United Kingdom by Australian Departments, including the Long Range Weapons Organisation in Australia, will be met by the Commonwealth Government.
STAFF AND OFFICE ACCOMMODATION 5. (a) Salaries and allowances of staff recruited by or supplied by the United Kingdom Government (including Scientists loaned or seconded to the Long Range Weapons Experimental Station in Australia) will be borne by the United Kingdom Government.
(b) Fares of personnel under (a) to or from Australia (including fares of wives and families) will be the responsibility of the United Kingdom Government. Fares in Australia of United Kingdom personnel travelling on duty in connection with the project will be borne by the Commonwealth Government.
(c) Salaries and allowances of staff recruited in Australia (including Scientists and others sent abroad for training) will be borne by the Commonwealth Government.
(d) Fares of personnel under (c) to or from the United Kingdom (including fares of wives and families) will be the responsibility of the Commonwealth Government. Fares in the United Kingdom of Australian personnel travelling on duty in connection with the project will be borne by the United Kingdom Government.
(e) All expenses of official visitors from the United Kingdom to the Range, other than the cost of fares for travelling in Australia, will be borne by the United Kingdom Government.
(f)Office accommodation, including the provision of telephones, etc., for the B.M.O.S.M. [4] in Australia will be provided by the Commonwealth Government.
DISPOSAL OF RESIDUES 6. The question of the financial interests of the respective Governments in disposals or residuals associated with the project will be subject to mutual arrangements at any time.
DATE OF OPERATION 7. The provisions of this Memorandum will operate retrospectively to the commencement of the project provided that no financial adjustments will be made in any case where actual payment or reimbursement has already been made.
[Appendix ‘A’]
SECRET
LONG RANGE WEAPONS PROJECT
Memorandum of Arrangements Between Australian and U.K. Governments to Govern the Operation of the Long Range Weapons Project
[matter omitted]
2. OBJECT OF THE PROJECT It is agreed that the object of the project is to set up and operate, as a Joint United Kingdom/Australian undertaking, an experimental range and supporting establishments for the testing and development of guided weapons, pilotless aircraft and other air launched equipment, including radio and radar control and counter measures.
3. FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED (a) It is agreed that, subject to such financial arrangements as may be accepted by the United Kingdom and Australian Governments, the following facilities are to be provided in Australia:-
(i) Range and associated facilities: Initially, all works and services essential to the implementation of the project, required at the range head and along the first 300 miles of the range, including those required for the initial assessment of experimental observations. The length of the range will be extended as agreed as necessary to allow for the testing of the various weapons to be developed.
(ii) Developmental facilities: A technical establishment to provide facilities for assembly, testing, repair and modification of weapons to be tested on the range.
(iii) Production capacity: Production capacity in Government factories or civil firms as may be required from time to time for the manufacture of prototypes or component parts of the various weapons to be tested and for the manufacture of range equipment.
(b) It is agreed that, subject to such financial arrangements as may be accepted by the United Kingdom and Australian Governments, the following are to be provided by the United Kingdom:-
(i) Technical equipment not available in Australia:
As far as possible, Australian sources of supply will be used to provide all equipment required for installation in connection with the project, but it is probable, particularly in the early stages, that special technical equipment will have to be provided from sources other than Australia. Such provision will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply in the United Kingdom.
(ii) Other facilities required in connection with the range in Australia:
The United Kingdom Government will, for its part, maintain such facilities in the United Kingdom as are complementary to the satisfactory operation of the range and its supporting establishments in Australia.
4. CONTROL OF THE PROJECT It is agreed that the authorities responsible for the control of the project shall be those as indicated in the Functional Table of Organisation, as at Appendix I [5] hereto, the various channels of communication being those as shown:-
(a) Governmental level:
Agreement having been reached on the object of the project as between the United Kingdom and Australian Governments, major diversions from the Agreement will be referred for governmental decision, but, apart from these, the authorities as enumerated in the succeeding sub-paragraphs will, on their respective levels, control the various phases of the implementation of the project.
(b) Combined (U.K./Australian) Long Range Weapons Committee, London:
It is agreed that a Committee of United Kingdom and Australian representatives shall be set up in London to consider matters of joint concern and to advise the responsible Departments, through their respective representatives. This Committee shall be designated the ‘Combined (United Kingdom/Australian) Long Range Weapons Committee, London’, and shall have the following terms of reference:-
(i) To consider the general policy to be followed in the construction and operation of the Australian Range and Base Establishment.
(ii) To consider the major projects to be undertaken, including the provision of buildings, equipment and personnel.
(iii) To consider the programme of work for the Range and the Base Establishment.
(iv) To advise on expenditure to be incurred at the Range and at the Base Establishment.
(v) To advise on technical and other matters requiring joint consideration.
(vi) To report to the United Kingdom and Australian Departments concerned.
The United Kingdom representation on the Committee shall consist initially of the following officers of the Ministry of Supply:-The Controller of Supplies (Air), the Under Secretary (Research and Radio), the Principal Director, Scientific Research (Air), and the Director, Guided Weapons Research and Development. For the Australian part, representation on the Committee shall consist of a representative of the Department of Defence, a representative of the Department of Supply and Development, and a member of the High Commissioner’s staff representing the Commonwealth Treasury. The representative of the Department of Defence will co-opt technical staff officers representing Navy, Army and Air, as necessary. The Australian representatives will communicate all proposals arising out of the discussions undertaken by the Committee to the Department of Defence, other than technical matters requiring joint consideration, which will be communicated to the Department of Supply and Development.
(c) Policy control in Australia:
Policy decisions are the responsibility of the Department of Defence, advised by the Defence Committee, as the result of its consideration of the recommendations of the Defence Research and Development Policy Committee.
(d) Executive control:
(i) In the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Supply will be the authority responsible for executive action in accordance with approved policy.
(ii) In Australia, the Department of Supply and Development will be the authority responsible for executive action in accordance with approved policy. The executive authority established within the Department of Supply and Development is the Long Range Weapons Board of Administration, whose relation to other authorities is as indicated in Appendix I hereto.
(e) Initiation of trials:
The authorities responsible for initiating trials and the channels to be used for such purposes are as indicated in Appendix I.
5. STAFF It is agreed that the project in Australia will be staffed as far as possible by personnel employed or recruited by the Australian Government, but that it will be necessary to supplement this personnel by staff drawn from the United Kingdom as circumstances require and as the resources of the U.K. permit. Scientific, technical and Service personnel will be employed, as appropriate, in connection with the project. It is further agreed that the Ministry of Supply will accept staff with suitable qualifications, employed or recruited by the Australian Government, for training in the United Kingdom with a view to their ultimate employment on the project in Australia.
6. DISTRIBUTION OF DATA It is agreed that all data compiled as the result of trials undertaken on the range, or research into, and the development of, particular weapons is the joint property of the United Kingdom and Australian Governments. Further, in view of the secrecy associated with the project, such data as may be compiled shall be made available only to properly authorised persons, the security considerations enforced being jointly agreed to by the United Kingdom and Australian Governments and applying equally to both Governments.
7. PRODUCTION RIGHTS (a) It is agreed that all information relating to production technique, etc., is the joint property of the United Kingdom and Australian Governments, and that either or both Governments shall have full right, so far as the respective Governments are in a position to convey such right, of producing to meet their particular requirements any weapons which may be developed as a result of the operation of the project.
(b) It is agreed that the personnel employed in connection with the project, both in the United Kingdom and in Australia, shall assign the benefit of any invention which they make as a result of their employment to their respective Governments, and that each Government shall secure to the other the right freely to use the invention for the services of the Crown.
8. FINANCIAL A separate financial agreement [6] is to be negotiated between the United Kingdom and Australian Governments in regard to the allocation of the costs of the Long Range Weapons project as between the respective Governments.
9. PARTICIPATION BY OTHER DOMINIONS AND STATES Nothing in this Agreement shall be regarded as precluding the participation in the project of other Dominions or States as mutually agreed by the United Kingdom and Australian Governments.
In this event, this Agreement will be suitably amended and other Agreements drawn up as necessary. [7]
_1 Not published.
2 Not published.
3 i.e. free on wagon.
4 British Ministry of Supply Mission.
5 Not published.
6 i.e. the document to which this appendix is attached.
7 The two draft memoranda formed the basis upon which the joint project was operated. They were reviewed from time to time and adjustments made to the level of expenditure.
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[AA:A5954, 1643/5]