Documents / FOIA release

The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; the U-2 and Oxcart Programs, 1954-1974

Central Intelligence Agency · 1900-01-01 · 406 pages · text by OCR

This is a 1992 CIA History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, originally classified Secret NOFORN and approved for release in 2013. It covers the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974 and the two aircraft it developed, the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART. The history covers the U-2 overflights of the Soviet Union, the 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers and later operations in Asia and Latin America. It also includes a section on U-2s, UFOs and Operation BLUE BOOK.

Open the PDF at page 361 Original source ↗

“Canberra”10 pages

  • p. 18 …This search soon led him to a British twin-engine medium bomber—the Canberra—built by…
  • p. 19 Secret NOFORN Chapter 1 6 RAF Canberra Mark-PR3 division in Baltimore, headed by Lt. Col…
  • p. 22 …high-altitude performance of the B-57 Canberra. By January 1954 all three firms had submitted…
  • p. 36 …The RAF equipped the new Canberra PR7 with RollsRoyce Avon-109 engines and gave it long…
  • p. 37 …altitude flight being made to the US Canberra, the B-57. $ ^{41} $ ## The Intelligence Systems Panel…
  • p. 80 …production was needed to power specially configured Canberra RB-57Ds for the Air Force. The first…
  • p. 122 …a reconnaissance version of the twin-engine Canberra bomber, similar to the RAF overflight of Kapustin…
  • p. 175 …2 and an Air Force RB-57D Canberra. The two aircraft cruised along the Soviet border…
  • p. 372 …310, 313, 321, 327, 329, 332, 333 Canberra 5, 9, 23-24, 67, 109, 117, 162…
  • p. 401 …General 61 oxygen mask 62 RB-57D Canberra 162 Third Air Force 89 US deterrent force…
Secret NOFORN

Bibliography

Coughlin, William. "Gardner Defends Greater R&D Spending." Aviation Week, 26 September 1955, p. 14.

Eastman, Ford. "Defense Officials Concede Missile Lag." Aviation Week, 9 February 1959, pp. 26-27.

Edwards, Philip K. "The President's Board: 1956-60." Studies in Intelligence 13 (Summer 1969): p. 118 (Secret).

Eisenhower, Dwight D. Waging Peace, 1956-1961. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965.

Freedman, Lawrence. US Intelligence and the Soviet Strategic Threat. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.

George, A. L. Case Studies of Actual and Alleged Overflights, 1930-1953. Rand Study RM-1349. Santa Monica: Rand, 1955 (Secret).

Center Germany, 1951 to 1967. Clandestine Service Historical Series CSHP-41. CIA: History Staff, 1972 (Secret).

Hotz, Robert. "Firing of 900-Mile Russian Missile Spurs US Changes." Aviation Week, 20 February 1956, pp. 26-28.

. "Russian Air Force Now Gaining in Quality." Aviation Week, 12 March 1956, pp. 286-291.

. "Russian Jet Airpower Gains Fast on US." Aviation Week, 23 May 1955, pp. 12-15.

"Is Russia Ahead in Missile Race?" US News and World Report, 6 September 1957, pp. 30-33.

"Is Russia Really Ahead in Missile Race?" US News and World Report, 4 May 1956, pp. 34-35.

"Is Russia Winning the Arms Race?" US News and World Report, 18 June 1954, pp. 28-29.

"Is US Really Losing in the Air?" US News and World Report, 18 May 1956, pp. 25-27.

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.