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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.

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“Nevers”34 pages

  • p. 13 …Without their help a good deal of this story could never have become known. The assistance…
  • p. 44 …the CL-282; in fact, there may never have been a formal decision as such. In…
  • p. 74 …Ry, Lockheed engineers had to solve problems never before encountered. Among these problems w21s the need…
  • p. 84 …Flight tests continued, with the U-2 ascending to alti tudes never before attained in sustained…
  • p. 102 …put aside for further thought (which it never received), and Bissell 's weather research cover re…
  • p. 147 …Peninsula, because of bad weather and, therefore, never entered Soviet airspace. A second attempt to photograph…
  • p. 157 …2 flight over the Black Sea that never violated Soviet airspace revealed 12 attempts at interception…
  • p. 159 …Six of the men on board were killed and the remaining 11 were never heard from…
  • p. 160 …Although this new Berlin crisis never became as threat,ening as the blockade of l 948…
  • p. 165 …The Air Force never equipped its orig inal U-2s with the 175 engines. 10" Detachment…
  • p. 189 …Powers never made it past Sverdlovsk. Four and a half hours into the mission, an SA…
  • p. 194 …program in I 974, but RAF pilots never again conducted an overt1ight in an Agency U…
  • p. 208 …very good reason, and such a situation never developed, in part because satellite photography gradually began…
  • p. 210 …Since this never happened, Francis Gary Powers' flight on l May 1960 proved to be the…
  • p. 223 …Responsibility for photo graphic coverage of Cuba remained with the Air Force; Agency pil,ots never…
  • p. 227 …Both were expe rienced with World War II aircraft, although Vito had never flown the rebels…
  • p. 248 …It was short of both pilots and planes and never had more than three U-2s…
  • p. 257 …This was an electronic intelligence mission that, in ac cordance with the new guidelines, never came…
  • p. 264 251 Seu et NOFOAN Chapter 5 There was never another Agency U-2 mission from an…
  • p. 290 …the OXCART aircraft for its own use. never adopted the laminated vertical stabii izers." THE OXCART…
  • p. 294 …Scott employed concepts never be fore used in camera systems. These included the use of a…
  • p. 298 …As it turned out, the 158 was never used in a Navy aircraft. "OSA History. chap…
  • p. 299 …This new delay was caused by leaking fuel tanks, a problem that would never be solved…
  • p. 303 …the J58 had to reach performance levels never before achieved by a jet engine. while operating…
  • p. 313 …even though the SKYLARK contingency plan was never put into effect. Since U-2s continued to…
  • p. 316 …Moreover, the Soviets never operated the radars in the tracking and lockon modes, a fact that…
  • p. 317 …strongly opposed it and the 303 Committee never forwarded the proposal to President Johnson. 5" The…
  • p. 318 …The OXCART, which had never operated in heavy rain, taxied to the runway and took off…
  • p. 326 …collector of strategic intelligence, the OXCART was never used for this purpose. Its brief deployment was…
  • p. 328 …the President never went so far as to eliminate the overflight program. As Commander in Chielf…
  • p. 333 …its speed and altitude have never been equaled. The development of this aircraft also led to…
  • p. 348 …a 16-kilogram VHF recorder for communications intelligence (COMINT), was never used and was transferred to…
  • p. 349 …a mission over the Soviet Union that never took place. Systems-XI through XV were ECM…
  • p. 356 …Project SANDY HOOK never advanced very far in develop ment; projected high costs and substantial technical…
116
Secret NOPOAN
Chapter 3
October 1956. This unit's timely and accurate information enabled the
PARAMOUNT Committee to predict the j oint Israeli-Bri tish-French
attack on Egypt three days before it took place.
On I I September, Detachment A pilot Jacob Kratt overflew the
French Mediterranean naval base at Toulon. He brought back imagery
revealing that France was loading troopships at Toulon. During the
rest of the month, Detachment A pilots flew another eight missions
over the Middle East. By this time, the new Detachment B in Turkey
was ready for operations, and it was better positioned to provide cov
erage of the Middle East. Detachment B began flying missions in
September and soon became the primary detachment for Middle East
overflights, conducting nine out of the IO such missions flown in
October...s
Detachment B's first U-2 flight, on 11 September 1956, made
passes over Turkey, Cyprus, and Rhodes. The next flight, more than
two weeks later, covered much the same ground but flew as far west
as Malta, Sicily, and Crete. Both were "special" missions aimed at
maintaining surveillance of the British and French fleets and forces as
they prepared for the attack on Egypt. Meanwhile, Detachment A pi
lots flew four missions in the Western Mediterranean.
During this period, the PARAMOUNT Committee's photo
interpreters developed the new science of "tent-ology"-counting the
tents of British forces on the islands of Cyprus and Malta to deter
mine the number of troops deployed. The photointerpreters used
changes in the number of tents to determine that the British forces
were beginning to move toward the beaches, where they were eventu
ally lightered to offshore troopships."
Noting the U-2 activity in the Middle East, President Eisenhower
wrote in his diary on 15 October 1956: "Our high-flying reconnais
sance planes have shown that Israel has obtained some 60 of the
French Mystere pursuit planes, when there had been reported the
transfer of only 24... 50 Other U-2 photographs revealed the presence
"' OSA History. chap. 19. annex 120. "CIA U-2 Missions Flown. 1956-1968." pp. 1-2 (TS
Codeword).
" Lundahl and Brugioni interview (TS Codeword).
'" Dwight D. Eisenhower Diary. 15 October 1956. DDEL.

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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.