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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. 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 …19 On 7 June 1954, Kelly Johnson received a letter from the Air Force rejecting the…
  • 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 addit ional source of support was…
  • p. 42 …it. A lthough Land had heard Allen Donovan '' James R. Killian. Jr.. interview by Donald E…
  • p. 48 …do the job in Johnson's airplane. And further, I 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 …Ben A. Rich (current head of the "Skunk Works"). interview by Donald E. Welzenbach and Gregory…
  • p. 69 …staff) flew over Nevada with Kelly Johnson in a small Beechcraft plane piloted by Lockheed's…
  • p. 72 …This responsibility has placed a heavy burden on the Office of Security for establishing procedures to…
  • p. 79 …Battin suggested the method used by Nazi war criminal Hermarnn 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 …The committee examined two other Kelly Johnson designs at this meeting-a tailless subsonic aircraft with…
  • p. 324 …OXCART did win a temporary reprieve in late November 1967. The Johnson administration decided to keep…
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Sect et NOFOFll'\I
Chapter 5
within 30 miles of South Vietnam, all of Laos south of Paksane, and
all of North Vietnam within 30 miles of South Vietnam or the coast.
The remaining portions of Indochina remained the responsibility of
the Agency's U-2s. Then in August 1964, following the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution, the Air Force assumed responsibility for all of
Indochina:5
U-2s in India
In October 1962, the People's Republic of China launched a series of
massive surprise attacks against India's frontier forces in the western
provinces of Jammu and Kashmir and in the North-East Frontier
Agency (NEFA). The Chinese overran all Indian fortifications north
of the Brahmaputra Valley before halting their operations.
The Indian Government appealed to the United States for mili
tary aid. In the negotiations that followed, it became apparent that
Indian claims concerning the extent of the Chinese incursions could
not be reliably evaluated. US Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith,
therefore, suggested to the Indian Government that US aerial recon
_naissance of the disputed areas would provide both governments with
a more accurate picture of the Communist Chinese incursions. On 11
November 1962, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru consented to the
proposed operation and gave the United States permission to refuel
the reconnaissance aircraft (U-2s) in Indian airspace:6
In late November, Detachment G deployed to Ta Khli, Thailand,
to carry out the overflights of the Sino-Indian border area. Since the
U-2s were not authorized to overfly Burma, they had to reach the tar
get area via the Bay of Bengal and eastern India and, therefore, re
quired midair refueling.
Because of severe winter weather conditions, the first flight did
not take place until 5 December. Poor weather and air turbulence
hampered the mission, and only 40 percent of the target area could be
photographed. A second mission on 10 December was more success
ful, but the U-2 experienced rough engine performance because of
icing of the fuel lines.47
" OSA History, chap. I 6, pp. 18- I 9 (TS Codeword).
"' Ibid., chap. 16, pp. 26-27 (TS Codeword).
" Ibid., p. 28 (TS Codeword); Mission folders 320 I (5 December 1962 and 3203 ( I 0
December 1962), OSA records, job 67-B-972, box 26 (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.