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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. 12 later, at press conferences in February and July 1. 964, President Lyndon B. Johnson revealed the…
  • p. 40 …and meetings with every major unit of the US defense and intelligence establish ments. After receiving…
  • p. 98 …The Soviet Union sent strongly worded protest notes to the United States and the nations from…
  • p. 102 …not only press releases and the public Line to be taken, but also the suspension of…
  • p. 107 …in the United Kingdom. At about the ' Ibid.. pp. 17-18 (TS Codeword). ' Press Release of…
  • p. 112 …at a press conference that the Soviet Union might be ahead of the United States in…
  • p. 125 …Dial Press. 1982), pp. 45-47. '' Lundahl and Brugioni interview (TS Codeword). ~eeret
  • p. 167 …By 1957 cooperation be tween the United Kingdom and the United States had expanded to include…
  • p. 174 …Defense Department officials pressed President Eisenhower to authorize renewed overflights to gather up-to-date in…
  • p. 183 …On the 9 April overflight, the U-2 's ELINT-collection unit (System VI) indicated Soviet…
  • p. 195 …in the press about the presence of "spyplanes" on Japanese territory, asked the United States to…
  • p. 198 …DCI records (S). " United States Congress. Senate. Foreign Relations Committee. £recutive Sessions of tlze Sencae Foreign…
  • p. 307 …By 1962 the United States had become aware of the effectiveness of a new Soviet radar…
  • p. 315 …To preserve the secrecy of the OXCART program, the Air Force informed the press that an…
  • p. 328 …at times when the press and Congress alleged that the United States was falling behind the…
  • p. 362 …Smithsonian Institute Press, l 985. Khrushchev. Nikita S. Khrushchev Remembers: The Last Testament. Boston: Little, Brown…
  • p. 401 …United Kingdom (See Great Britain) United Kingdom Requirements Committee 154 United Nations 20 United Press International…
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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.