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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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“Sea”42 pages

  • p. 16 …An RB-29 lost in the Sea of Japan on 13 June 1952 was probably also…
  • p. 38 …off to about 6 percent of its sea-level thrust. Finally, low structural load factors, like…
  • p. 62 …U-2 landing gear and pogos .Sea,et-
  • p. 69 …chap. 8, pp. 1-2 (TS Codeword); Miller, Lockheed U-2. pp. 19-20. Sea,at
  • p. 75 …a boiling point of 300°F at sea level. Manufacturing this special fuel required petroleum byproducts…
  • p. 80 …pounds heavier and delivered only 10.200 pounds of thrust at sea level; the resulting Secret
  • p. 89 …that they could not be flown at sea level faster than 190 knots in smooth air…
  • p. 98 …Sec.el NOfOftN Chapter 2 Sea,et
  • p. 102 …working on a cover story for over seas operations. It was important to have a plausible…
  • p. 115 North Sea First Overflights, 20 June - 5 July 1956 ) f\ Sweden .__,_,_"-.. ) ~ STOCICHOUil -~ ✓ vf!.Sea \f Finland…
  • p. 116 r/ o/ North Sea 1/'. AMSTERDAM ;, 0 0 Baltic S<la --- Mission 2013 4 July - - - Mission…
  • p. 120 …Black SEia ~ q, TurkE~Y ~ ~111~ 13~ • ? ~ ...• o<) Mediterranean Sea () .. •• •,,, Malta (U.K.) Sec, et NOFORN ...... . . .. ·:. ·.•
  • p. 131 Mission 1316, 1 November 1956 Turkey Cyprus ', (U.K .) '· Mediterranean Sea lncirlik Airbase _/\ o/ t. </ \ f…
  • p. 139 …Soviet border from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea and on to Afghanistan. The System…
  • p. 146 …On 31 July, the same aircraft made a run over the Black Sea. There were a…
  • p. 148 …was the first to photograph the major Soviet space launch facility east of the Aral Sea…
  • p. 153 …of Soviet naval maneuvers in the Barents Sea. The final overflight of Detachment A , mission 2040…
  • p. 154 …K~ome<e,, tOO 200Miles Norwegian Sea Barents Sea Kola Peninsula '1'v Sweden f / Finlaind…
  • p. 155 …Norwegian radars tracked the overflights of the Barents Sea and Murmansk in October 1957, and Col…
  • p. 157 …well within international airspace above the Black Sea, as was the case on 27 October I957…
  • p. 158 …it turned abruptly upward over the Bering Sea just west of Alaska, climbed to 110,000…
  • p. 166 …the Soviet border and over the Black Sea without entering Soviet airspace. In late August, as…
  • p. 179 Baltic ~a Finland Black Sea Tu • ' -···1~- ..... ;.. :~.: ~~~~ •' :~·f.:~<,,· ·ir.fa 0 First British Overflight, 6 December…
  • p. 185 …Because the Bodo airfield was involved in NATO maneuvers taking place in the Barents Sea area…
  • p. 215 …Caribbean Sea W- Caymanlsl"""5 I_U."-i ~,...~ _''-),.,, .";!:-, - Mission 3086 5 August Mission 3088 29 August…
  • p. 216 …Caribbean Sea lOOKiloml.it•~ 100 200 Mff.-s Guvtof Mex~co \\\ I \ Caribbean Sea Multiple missions…
  • p. 225 …forces were conducting an all-out air-sea-land drive against the rebel-held areas in…
  • p. 226 f. 0 0 IND/AN OCEAN 300 -- 300 IIOOMlloo .·' Philippine Sea
  • p. 240 …Philippine Sea South China Sea Philippines • SeGFet NOFOAl<J 72<1~ (IU)0428J 4o92
  • p. 248 …6eeret NOFORN Chapter 5 Sea,et
  • p. 257 …The use of peripheral missions prevented any further losses, although one aircraft crashed into the sea…
  • p. 288 275 Settee NOPORN Chapter 6 Radar testing of A-72 mockup Sea,et
  • p. 316 …Shortly before Leningrad, the A-12 would head west-southwest down the Baltic Sea, skirting the…
  • p. 317 …2 would be flying farther out to sea, safely beyond the range of all Soviet SAMs…
  • p. 350 …B B Afghanistan, Tashkent, Tyuratam, Kazalinsk, Aral Sea 11 August 1957 4039 McMurray Lahore B B…
  • p. 351 …A-2 Dushanbe, Tashkent, Tyuratam, Kazalinsk, Aral Sea 10 September 1957 4059 Hall Adana B A…
  • p. 369 …AQUILINE 304, 339-343 Arabs 256 Aral Sea 135 Arbenz, Jacobo 16 "Archangel-I" 262 "Archangel…
  • p. 371 358 &ee,et NQFQRN Index Baltic Sea 3, 303 Baltic states 104 Baltimore; Maryland 6, 9…
  • p. 373 …186, 201, 205, 208-209, 299, 327 Caspian Sea 126 catheterized 64 cathode-ray tube 267…
  • p. 382 …23-24, 109, 139, 143, 164 Kara Sea 142 Kazakh language 135 Kazakhstan 135 Kazan', Soviet…
  • p. 385 …301 mechanical fuel totalizer/counters 68 Mediterranean Sea 114, 116. 121, 140, 142, 153 medium-range…
  • p. 393 …Pennsylvania 222 Sea of Japan 3 Seaberg, John 8-9. 12. 35-36. 333 SEAFOAM 211…
198
Seu et NOFORN
Chapter 5
Special Group to approve U-2 overflights of Cuba. Known as
Operation KICK OFF, these flights were designed to obtain intelli
gence on Cuban air and ground order of battle and to provide geo
graphic data for choosing an invasion site.
To allay fears that mechanical problems could lead to the loss of
a U-2 over Cuba, the submission to the Special Group for overflights
emphasized that, if a U-2 had a flameout anywhere over Cuba, it
could still glide back and make a safe landing in Florida. The Special
Group approved Operation KICK OFF but stipulated that only two
overflights could be made. Detachment G staged the Cuban missions
from Laughlin AFB near Del Rio, Texas, a base used by SAC U-2
aircraft. Agency photointerpreters went to Del Rio to read out the
photography after these missions. The two flights, on 26 and 27
October 1960, were very long missions, covering 3,500 miles and
lasting over nine hours. Because of cloud cover over Cuba, the results
of both missions were poor. The Agency, therefore, asked the Special
Group to approve additional missions. After receiving authorization,
Detachment G conducted three missions (Operation GREEN EYES)
on 27 November and 5 and 11 December 1960 with good results.
Overflights of Cuba continued under the new administration of
President Kennedy. Under the codename Operation LONG GREEN.
two overflights on 19 and 21 March 1961 photographed Cuba exten
sively to aid the final preparations for the invasion. Two weeks later
Detachment G again deployed from Edwards AFB, California, to
Laughlin AFB. Texas. Beginning on 6 April, Detachment G U-2s
made 15 flights over Cuba to provide photographic coverage of the
ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion and its aftermath. These flights were
known as Operation FLIP TOP. 5
Aerial Refueling Capability for the U-2
Long missions conducted over Cuba in late 1960 and over Southeast
Asia in early 196 l pointed out the need to increase the range of the
U-2. In May 1961, Lockheed began modifying Agency U-2s so that
they could be refueled in flight to extend their operating range. The
six Agency aircraft that were modified to achieve this capability re
ceived the designation U-2F. All Agency U-2 pilots then underwent
training in the techniques of in-flight refueling.
' OSA History, chap. 16, pp. I 3-15 (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.