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SHOOTDOWNS, CYPHERS AND SPENDING 223
regions. Inevitably, on intelligence relating to economic matters
there was almost no exchange at all. The Treasury demanded
'more of a carve-up and less overlap'.82
Hampshire's probe of sigint lasted several months, and
included a six-week visit to the sprawling NSA headquarters at
Fort Meade that lasted into January 1963. 83 Here, Hampshire
was briefed on the super-secret plans of NSA to expand sigint
collection using satellites like the highly successful 'Grab'
launched in June 1960. He soon concluded that this was one
road GCHQ could not travel, since the costs of satellite operations
were prohibitive. 84 This also reflected his worries about
poor scientific recruitment at GCHQ. 85 His work gave him insights
into some of the most secret activities of MI5 and SIS. He met
the MI5 officer Peter Wright to discuss GCHQ support for scientific
efforts to locate the radios of KGB agents in Britain.
Hampshire was broadly supportive of this, but wished to wind
up 'Airborne Rafter', the element of the operation conducted
with the help of the RAP's 51 Squadron, which was proving
very expensive. Wright, a zealous counter-espionage enthusiast,
resisted, but eventually agreed with Hampshire that the flights
were not cost-effective. 86
Remarkably, after much debate GCHQ got its money. After
1962, the budgets of most of Britain's overseas departments
went down by 10 per cent, but the sigint budget went up by
the same amount. This was an astonishing victory delivered by
Clive Loehnis and his deputy Joe Hooper. They were greatly
helped by the fact that Burke Trend, a fan of secret service,
moved from the Treasury to replace Norman Brook as Cabinet
Secretary in 1963. Trend and Hampshire had eventually
concluded that asking 'value for money' questions about intelligence
warning of a future Soviet attack, or indeed about what
was now a key element of the Anglo-American relationship,
was perhaps wrongheaded. These were core activities that Britain
had to continueY The Treasury's biggest worry was airborne
sigint, which, as we shall see, remained a perennial problem
for decades to come. 88