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CIA/CSI/ History Staff Monograph, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and Oxcart Programs, 16 July 2002.

Central Intelligence Agency · 406 pages · text from the file's own layer

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."

  • p. 24 …Instead of a conventional landing gear, Johnson proposed using two skis and a reinforced belly rib…
  • p. 25 …a perceived shortcoming of the Lockheed design."' Another factor in the rejection of Kelly Johnson's…
  • p. 26 …interview by Donald E. Welzenbach, Corona del Mar. California. 20 May 1985 (S). Johnson, "Log for…
  • p. 27 …Gardner described Kelly Johnson's proposal and showed the drawings to Strong. After this meeting. Strong…
  • p. 30 …To make Kelly Johnson's revolutionary design a reality, one additional source of support was necessary…
  • p. 42 …When James Killian asked Land to head Project Three, Land had to make a major decision…
  • p. 48 …do the job in Johnson's airplane. And further, 1 overlaid a curve showing that with…
  • p. 57 …demanding, and Kelly Johnson agreed that such a move would save a lot of money. Lockheed…
  • p. 58 …a week after he had been authorized to begin the project, Kelly Johnson wrote a 23…
  • p. 69 …project staff) flew LIZ with Kelly Johnson in a small Beechcraft plane piloted by eed's…
  • p. 72 …This responsibility has placed a heavy burden on the Office of Security for establishing procedures to…
  • p. 79 …Batlin suggested the method used by Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering, a thin glass ampule containing…
  • p. 81 …Kelly Johnson used a "wet-wing" design for the U-2, which meant that fuel was…
  • p. 89 …Airspeed was such a critical factor that Kelly Johnson added a vernier adjustment to the throttle…
  • p. 162 …By late 1957, Johnson agreed that something had to be done. After a series of tests…
  • p. 276 RN Chapter 6 263 Johnson, "Archangel log," 17-24 CO5653421 UNCLASSIFIED Lockheed design for a hydrogen…
  • p. 324 …OXCART did win a temporary reprieve in late November 1967. The Johnson administration decided to keep…
CO5653421 UNCLASSIFIED
Appendix B
328
the Air Force in January 1959. Five months later he moved up to
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research and Development,
and the following year he became Under Secretary of the Air Force.
In these positions he was involved in coordination with the CIA on
both the U-2 and OXCART projects. In 1963 Charyk left government
to become the first chairman of the Communications Satellite
Corporation.
CUNNINGHAM, James A., Jr.
An ex—Marine Corps pilot, he became the administrative officer for
the U-2 project in April 1955. Cunningham handled the day-to-day
management of the U-2 program and brought only the more complex
problems to Richard Bissell's attention. Later he served as the Deputy
Director of the Office of Special Activities and then Special Assistant
to the Deputy Director for Science and Technology.
DONOVAN, Allen F.
An aeronautical engineer who had helped to design the P-40 fighter
while working at the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Donovan was one
of the founders of the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory after World
War If. He served on several Air Force advisory panels and was a
strong advocate of the proposed Lockheed CL-282 aircraft. Later he
became vice president of the Aerospace Corporation.
DOOLITTLE, James H.
A vice president of Shell Oil Company and an Army Air Force re-
serve general, Doolittle headed General Eisenhower's Air Staff dur-
ing World War U. After the war Doolittle served on many Air Force
advisory panels, and in 1954 he chaired a special panel investigating
the CIA's covert activities. Doolittle also served on the Technological
Capabilities Panel and the President's Board of Consultants on
Foreign Intelligence Activities.
DUCKETT, Carl E.
Headed the Directorate of Science and Technology from September
1966 until May 1976, first as Acting Deputy Director and then as
Deputy Director beginning in April 1967. During his tenure, the em-
phasis in the CIA's overhead reconnaissance program shifted from
aircraft to satellites.
DULLES, Allen W.
DCI from 1953 until 1961. Although initially reluctant to see the CIA
involved in aerial reconnaissance, which he viewed as the military's
area of responsibility. Dulles became a strong supporter of the U-2
ret
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.