Amrom Harry Katz (August 15, 1915 – February 9, 1997) was an American physicist and intelligence technologist who was a key figure in the development of aerial andsatellite reconnaissance during theCold War. Over a five-decade career spanningWorld War II, theKorean War, and the Cold War, Katz contributed to advances in airborne camera systems,photogrammetry, and space-based surveillance. He served as a civilian photo scientist for theU.S. Army Air Corps and later atWright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he improved aerial imaging techniques and helped document the atomic tests atBikini Atoll.
During the Korean War, he devised a noveltidal prediction method that supported the amphibious landing at theBattle of Inchon. From 1954 to 1969, Katz worked at theRAND Corporation, where his collaboration withMerton Davies led to the concept of a recoverable film-return satellite—work that laid the groundwork for theCORONA spy satellite program. He later promoted the civilian use of reconnaissance technologies and served as Assistant Director of theU.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, where he advocated using satellite surveillance for treaty verification. In 2000, Katz was posthumously recognized by theNational Reconnaissance Office as one of its ten founders.
Katz was born in Chicago on August 15, 1915, to Max and Lena Katz.[1] His mother was a homemaker and his father managed rental properties.[1] The family later moved toMilwaukee, Wisconsin, where Katz, the eldest of four brothers, graduated from West Division High School (nowMilwaukee High School of the Arts).[1] He earned degrees in physics and mathematics from theUniversity of Wisconsin.[2]
In 1940, he began work as a junior physicist in theUnited States Army Air Corps research and development division.[2] In 1941, Katz began a 13-year tenure at the photographic laboratories ofWright Patterson Air Force Base atDayton, Ohio.[3] HistorianDwayne A. Day described Katz as a "wizard" in his thinking and approach; he noted Katz was not often the first to think of an idea, but was often the first to refine it into a comprehensive recommendation for bodies such as theUnited States Air Force.[4]
Katz reengineered aerial camera systems for the Air Corps, significantly enhancing reconnaissance imaging duringWorld War II.[2] He served as the lead civilian photo analyst for theBikini Atoll nuclear tests, overseeing the oblique aerial photographic documentation of the explosions.[2] At Bikini Atoll, international journalists waited prior to the test with nothing to report.[5] Katz arranged for friends at a U.S. airbase to send themhorseshoes andmanure (shipped indry ice to conceal the odor).[5] Katz and others simulated horse tracks in the middle of the night, leaving manure in its wake, hoping to find reporters investigating a horse that didn't exist.[5]
Katz developed a novel photogrammetric method during the Korean War to derivetidal data fromaerial imagery.[2] Katz traveled to Korea during the war to survey and assist in the selection of landing sites for the battle.[3] His tide analysis enabled the timing of the amphibious landing at theBattle of Inchon, contributing to its operational success.[2]
During his time at Wright Field, Katz developed what theNational Air and Space Museum described as the "aerial photographic computer," a base board with transparent mylar overlays used for complex studies of photographic coverage.[6] Katz departed the photography programs at Wright-Patterson in 1954.[3]
Katz joined theRAND Corporation in 1954 to advance global reconnaissance methods.[2] His research there encompassed aerial, balloon-based, and satellite reconnaissance platforms.[2] Military historianWalter Dorn noted that Katz was involved in Project Feedback while at RAND.[7] The project evolved into WS-117L, also known asSAMOS, a cover for the development of theKH-7 Gambit reconnaissance satellites.[8] During this period, RAND also reviewedobservation balloon technologies with advanced cameras.[9] Katz told staff at theNational Photographic Interpretation Center that RAND’s interest was sparked by aSkyhook balloon that had "escaped" and subsequently overflew Europe and Asia undetected.[9]
In 1957, Katz andMerton Davies devised the concept of a recoverable film-return satellite.[2] Their design laid the foundation for theCORONA reconnaissance satellite program.[2] During this work, Katz collaborated withEdwin Land of thePolaroid Corporation,James Baker,Edward Mills Purcell ofHarvard University, and RAND’s Davies. Their group was so effective and congenial thatWilliam E. Burrows described them inSmithsonian Magazine as a "fraternity of grown-up whiz kids".[10] Katz and many of his colleagues were later recognized as founding figures in the establishment of U.S. national reconnaissance.[2] Early ideas for space-based platforms to operate reconnaissance, advocated by Davies and Katz, were "dismissed as impossible."[11]: vii
He wrote one of the earliest draft papers onweather satellites in 1959.[4] In the 1960s, Katz promoted adapting military reconnaissance tools for domestic mapping and scientific use.[2] Katz emphasized the importance of accelerating the interpretation and documentation of imagery derived from aerospace sensors.[2] While at RAND, Katz supported the use of aerial reconnaissance to monitor treaty and arms control compliance by theSoviet Union.[3] In 1963,Air & Space Forces Magazine highlighted a 1959 report in which Katz observed that many World War II-eraphotointerpreters had dismissed the idea that high-altitude photography "might ever be useful."[12] Many of his proposed civil applications for aerospace imaging were not implemented until decades later.[2] The same article outlined three "rules" Katz regarded as essential for satellite photography: thatfocal length is more important thanscale factor; that the fastest possibleshutter speed should be used; and that there is no benefit to miniaturization, with equipment made as large as possible to maximize photographic outcomes.[12]
Katz was active in theAmerican Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and worked withItek, adefense contractor that specialized in camera systems forspy satellites and otherreconnaissance platforms.[13]Dino Brugioni quoted him on the distinction between amapping camera and areconnaissance camera: "Mapping photography is designed to give information about the character of the terrain; reconnaissance/intelligence photography is designed to give information about characters on the terrain."[9] Katz also recalled a notable exchange with Soviet counterparts at a 1960 conference, when a Soviet scientist asked what kind of film the U.S. used in theLockheed U-2 program. When Katz pressed for the reason, the Soviet replied, "They were damn good pictures."[9]
A 1968 report by Chile’s Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Naturales identified him as a specialist in orbital photography.[14]Herman Kahn, inOn Thermonuclear War, credited Katz with coining the term "catalytic war" to describe a conflict intentionally started by a third country to provoke two major powers into fighting one another.[15] In 1969,John L. McLucas, thenDirector of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO), wrote that Katz felt "imagination formerly prevalent in the reconnaissance business is waning".[16] Katz's tenure at RAND continued through 1969.[17] Davies in 1990 wrote that Katz concluded of his career there, that the "most important work he did after coming to RAND in 1954 was not on the means of accomplishing reconnaissance missions, but on the nature of and specification of reconnaissance requirements."[11]: 76 Katz's RAND discussion papers were often, as historian Day described, filled with "wry, slightly sarcastic remarks about the military bureaucracy".[4]
In 1973, PresidentRichard Nixon appointed Katz Assistant Director of the U.S.Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA).[2] At ACDA, he promoted the use of overhead surveillance as a key element of treaty verification.[2] Known for hisgallows humor,[18] Katz once toldRonald Reagan during a discussion of arms control, "we have never discovered anything that theSoviets have successfully hidden," a remark that left the president laughing.[18]Arthur C. Lundahl often quoted Katz for his ability to underscore serious points with terse, humorous observations.[9]
He also advocated using local nationals for aerial photography in arms control contexts, reasoning that such missions would provoke less opposition than satellite surveillance.[14]
In 2000, theNational Reconnaissance Office (NRO) recognized Katz as one of its ten founders.[19] A 2016 academic conference of the Southern Network of History, Anthropology, and Sociology, held atPrince of Songkla University inThailand, credited him—working under the CIA with support from the RAND Corporation—with developingpanoramic photography technology later incorporated into the CORONA reconnaissance satellite program.[20] In a 1972 memorandum for the NRO titledPreliminary Thoughts on Crises: More Questions Than Answers, Katz warned that U.S. space systems had been "protected by assumption—the belief that nobody would interfere with their operation," and cautioned that this development path risked "tempting [adversaries] with juicier targets than we used to."[21] He outlined four approaches for protecting space assets: making satellites harder to attack, harder to detect, easier to replace, and preparing to shoot down an adversary's satellites.[21]
In 1963, Katz received theSociety of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) George W. Goddard Award for his contributions to airborne and space reconnaissance.[2]
His analytical sharpness earned him the nickname "Slide-Rule Katz" from GeneralGeorge William Goddard, reflecting his reputation for intellectual precision.[2]
Katz died on February 9, 1997, inSanta Monica, California.[3]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theUnited States government.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Those 10 individuals were: William Baker, Merton Davies, Sidney Drell, Richard Garwin, Amrom Katz, James Killian, Edwin Land, Frank Lehan, William Perry, and Edward Purcell.
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