Documents / FOIA release
This is a CIA History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, written in 1992 and approved for release in 2011. It covers the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974 and its two aircraft, the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART. It follows their development, the overflights of the Soviet Union, the downing of Francis Gary Powers in 1960, and later operations. One section is titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK."
“Sea”17 pages
U-2C and U-2R CO5653421 UNCLASSIFIED Z"ZrerNQE,QL.41\1 Chapter 5 252 (0129581.6(d1111>10<25Yrs IS) The U-2R used the upgraded Pratt & Whitney 175/P-13B engine and was able to Ely higher—in excess of 74,000 feet—and faster— Mach 0.72 (410 knots), which is 12 knots faster than the U-2C. When Hying at the higher altitude, however, the U-2R's range was less than the U-2C's. The restart capability of the P-138 engine was signifi- cantly better than the P-13A power plant. As a result, the U-2R could be restarted at 54,000 feet, which was 10.000 feet higher than the U-2C. Francis Gary Powers was one of the Lockheed test pilots who checked out this new aircraft when it first took to the air on 28 August 1967. The last of the U-2Rs was delivered on 11 December 1968. The increased performance of the U-2R did not come cheaply. At er aircraft, the new models cost almost ias mu inal U-2s. Much of the increased cost was aue to inflation, but some was the result of technological advances. The ini- tial order for eight of the new version of the U-2 was followed on 23 November 1966 by an order from the DCI and the Secretary of Defense for four more. This brought the total number of U-2Rs pur- chased by the CIA and the Air Force to 12.7' In addition to a new aircraft. the U-2 program received a new camera. Agency managers felt that, because the B camera was now 10 years old. the U-2R needed a camera that incorporated the many im- portant advances that had occurred in recent years. The I 12B—the modified version of the satellite program's stereo camera that had been used in the U-2G—had not proved totally successful. Despite its stereo capability, this camera's shorter focal length could not provide OSA History, chap. 5. pp. 34-36 (TS Codessort1). -USA History-2," chap. 5. pp. 1-2 (TS Codeword). UNCLASSIFIED
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.