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CIA-UAP-003, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

Central Intelligence Agency · 1954 · 406 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is a Secret History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach of the Central Intelligence Agency, published in 1992. It gives a history of the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974, covering the development and operation of the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART aircraft. It covers overflights of the Soviet Union, the 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers, and later operations. One section is titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK."

From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 This CIA History Staff document chronicles the complete history of the U-2 and OXCART (A-12) high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft programs from 1954 to 1974, detailing their development, operations over the Soviet Union and other targets worldwide, the famous downing of Francis Gary Powers in 1960, organizational reforms following that incident, and the eventual transfer of operations from CIA to Air Force control. A more redacted version of this document has been available on CIA's public website.

  • p. 6 …215 U-2 Support for DDP Operations in Tibet....................................... 216 U-2Cs for Detachment C....................... .................... ... ....................... 217…
  • p. 170 …Detachment C mainly collected high-altitude weather data, although it also flew two missions over Tibet…
  • p. 229 …U-2 Support for DDP Operations in Tibet The consolidation of all Agency air activities under…
  • p. 231 …it carried no film Lhasa, Tibet, November 1959 and did not have a full load of…
  • p. 232 …Flights by Detachment C U-2s over Tibet and western China contin ued during the first…
  • p. 245 …Khli when it staged four sorties over Tibet from 29 September to l O November 1963…
  • p. 398 …301-302, 304, 307 Thule, Greenland 172 Tibet 157, 216, 219, 232 99 TIME STEP 172…
113
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Chapter 3
Bases for U-2 Operations in the Middle East, 1956
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Suez takeover, however, the second contingent of U-2 aircraft and pi
lots was still being trained in Nevada. This unit would not be ready
for redeployment before the end of August and would not become es
tablished at Incirlik airbase near Adana, Turkey, until early September
1956. The Agency referred to the AQUATONE detachment at Adana
as Detachment B, cryptonym KWCORK; the Air Force covername
was Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Provisional 2; and the unit's
unofficial name was Tuslog Detachment 10-10. By whatever name,
the Adana detachment became the mainstay of U-2 activity for the
next three and a half years.'3
The fast-moving events of the Suez Crisis would not wait for
Detachment B pilots to complete their training. With tension growing
between Egypt and the Suez Canal Company's former owners, the
United Kingdom and France, as well as between Egypt and Israel.. US
'·' OSA History. chap. 11. pp. 9. 39-40: chap. 12. pp. 5. 12 (TS Codeword).
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Official release, from the pursue 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.