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 395 Original source ↗

“RAF”18 pages

p. 19 Secret NOFORN Chapter 1 6 RAF Canberra Mark-PR3 division in Baltimore, headed by Lt. Col…
p. 36 …In 1952 the Royal Air Force (RAF) began Project ROBIN, which was designed to modify the…
p. 106 …The U-2s were to use Lakenheath AFB, an RAF base also used by the USAF…
p. 107 …inadvertently penetrated the British radar network, causing RAF fighters to scramble. Afterward the Air Ministry made…
p. 122 …twin-engine Canberra bomber, similar to the RAF overflight of Kapustin Yar in 1953. The US…
p. 156 …Range for the first time since the RAF's overflight in 1953, obtaining photographs of a…
p. 166 …In November 1958, four RAF officers arrived at Detachment B at Adana, thus beginning the United…
p. 167 …On 7 February 1958, Bissell instructed the to ask Air Vice Marshal MacDonald if the RAF…
p. 168 …MacDonald agreed to Bissell's proposal and began recruiting RAF pilots to fly the U-2…
p. 169 …Most flights by the RAF pilots in Detachment B, however, took place in the Middle East…
p. 177 …For almost a year, the RAF pilots of Detachment B had been ready to fly over…
p. 194 …A four-man unit of RAF U-2 pilots was stationed at Detachment G, Edwards AFB…
p. 200 …approval authority for missions conducted by the RAF pilots in Detachment B. The loss of Powers…
p. 316 …Project IDEALIST U-2 flying from an RAF facility in Great Britain. The OXCART would fly…
p. 332 …1960, the need for British participation lessened. RAF pilots henceforth flew only training or ferry missions…
p. 339 …Division PSAC President's Science Advisory Committee RAF Royal Air Force RFP Request for proposal SAB…
p. 351 …May 1960 4154 Powers Peshawar B B Tyuratam, Kyshtym, Sverdlovsk; downed by SAM $ ^{a} $ RAF pilot
p. 402 …Louis 29 Watertown Strip 57 Watton RAF Base. England 156 "weather plane" cover story 179 weather…

## Secret NOFORN

Index

382

Soviet Union

1-3, 4-7, 14-27, 31, 39, 65, 81-89,

93-101, 104-106, 108-112, 120,

122-124, 126-130, 133-135, 137-

140, 142-149, 152-157, 159-165,

167-168, 170-172, 174-183, 186-187,

189, 195-197, 200-201, 205-206,

209-211, 215, 219, 221, 225, 232, 237,

247, 254, 259, 294, 297-299, 301,

303-304, 312, 315-320, 322, 329-330,

332, 335-336, 339, 341, 344

activity in Cuba

200, 201

air defense system

2, 3, 108, 168, 170, 317

air power of the

20

air show

98

atomic energy program

317

bomber

21, 111, 167, 317

borders

123, 127, 143

diplomatic protests

$ 3 1 5^{- -}$

electronic defenses

317

fighters

3, 5, 23, 26, 127, 144

G-class ballistic-missile submarine

237

guided missile and nuclear programs

135

guided missile research

99

guided missiles

81, 99

guided-missile test range

16

intentions

4, 318

intercept attempts

142

interception of U-2

19, 24-25, 47, 87, 106, 108, 110, 122,

127, 134, 144, 170, 244, 270, 315, 339

medium-range ballistic missiles

missile program

128, 159-161, 163-164

missile test range

16, 23, 143, 164, 167, 176

overflight operation

110

propaganda campaign

317

Protest Note

109

radar coverage

106

radars

3, 7, 15, 97, 130, 134, 168, 176,

259, 339

rail network

167

strategic capabilities

2, 19

Supreme Soviet

179

surface-to-air missile (SAM)

177, 168, 304

surprise attack

19, 26-27, 89, 147, 159, 329-330

Soviet-Finnish border 303,142

Soviet-Iranian border 124,162-163,168

Special Activities, Director of 193

Special Activities (OSA). Office of 43,192-193,207,234-235,242,247, 252,257,288,296-297,299,303,312, 328,341-342,344 Special Assistant for National Security Affairs 188

Special Assistant to the DCI 40

"special" missions 116

Special Operations Division 192

Spica, Incorporated 51

spotting camera 282

Sputnik 159

SQUARE DEAL 168,170

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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.