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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.

Open the PDF at page 247 Original source ↗

“The Advance”34 pages

  • p. 6 …255 The Phaseout of the Office of Special Activities ........ ................... 257 0 ) Chapter 6 The U-2…
  • p. 7 …319 Advances in Technology............................................... ........................... 320 Cooperation With the Air Force ............................................................. 321 Impact of the Overhead Reconnaissance…
  • p. 22 …retired from the Air Force to become the assistant director of Lockheed's Advanced Development Program…
  • p. 24 11 / Chapter 1 gravity (g's) instead of the military specification strengLh of 5.33 g…
  • p. 32 …lithium deuteride, a tech nology more advanced than the heavy water method used by US '' BEACON…
  • p. 33 …between the developed and undeveloped nations. This aggressive Soviet foreign policy. combined with advances in nuclear…
  • p. 58 …secrecy in the new project, Kelly Johnson placed it in Lockheed's Advanced Development facility at…
  • p. 65 …His software algorithms made it possible to model lens designs and determine in advance the effects…
  • p. 76 …seen on pilot Francis Gary Powers) advanced gear for the U-2 pilots. David Clark expert…
  • p. 111 …of Soviet advances in long-range bombers and missiles. The initial sighting of the new Soviet…
  • p. 114 …Adenauer be informed in advance of US plans to overfly the Soviet Union from bases in…
  • p. 174 …concentrating on developing the more advanced solid-fueled missiles rather than increasing the num ber of…
  • p. 183 …if the Soviet SAMs received sufficient advanced warning, they posed a major threat to the U…
  • p. 191 …the cover story that had been prepared and distributed in advance of the mission. The first…
  • p. 206 …In 1965 the head of OSA received a new title, Director of Special Activities. The Office…
  • p. 235 …STPOLLY added the more advanced Lockheed P3A in 1963. Between 1955 and 1967, when the CIA…
  • p. 249 …The Defense Department feared that the loss of this device with its highly advanced traveling-wave…
  • p. 250 …Chapter 5 Advanced ECM Equipment for Detachment H Demand for overhead photography of the PRC continued…
  • p. 252 …In addition, the Project TACKLE U-2s began receiving even more advanced ECM • 60 equipment. •• Mission…
  • p. 265 …but some was the result of technological advances. The ini tial order for eight of the…
  • p. 266 …This camera was actually a very advanced version of the original B camera with a new…
  • p. 282 …aircraft from the small inventory of its most advanced bomber. Even had the B-588 program…
  • p. 295 …In fact, it was an advanced version of the highly reliable B camera developed for the…
  • p. 296 …Prospective pilots had to be qualified in the most advanced fighters and be emotionally stable and…
  • p. 307 …advanced experimental jet aircraft, the A-11. which has been tested in sustained flight at more…
  • p. 310 …It was now time to find work for the most advanced aircraft ever conceived and built…
  • p. 321 …advanced aircraft ever .built was to be put out to pasture. The aban donment of the…
  • p. 325 …when the OXCART program ended in the summer of 1968, no mcire advanced successor was wait…
  • p. 326 …The most advanced aircraft of the 20th century had become an anachronism before it was ever…
  • p. 333 …ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY One very important byproduct of the CIA's manned reconnaissance program was the…
  • p. 334 …the end of the usefulness of the world's most advanced aircraft; its offspring, the SR…
  • p. 335 …Thus, the CIA sponsored the development of the world's most advanced aircraft-the OXCART-and…
  • p. 352 …They believed that recent advances in the minia turization of electronic technology would make possible the…
  • p. 356 343 Defense Research and Engineering, John Foster, liked the concept and provided DOD funding for ORD…
234
Sec,et N6FOfU\1
Chapter 5
The increased level of U-2 activity in the Far East during the
spring of 1963 exposed a serious weakness in Projects IDEALIST and
TACKLE, a shortage of aircraft. The Agency only had seven flyable
U-2s when the TACKLE overflights of the PRC began in January
1962, and one of these aircraft had already been lost during an over
flight in September 1962. To deal with this shortage, DCI McCone
asked Defense Secretary McNamara and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on
IO June 1963 to transfer two U-2s from the Air Force to the CIA. The
Defense Department quickly approved this request. Before the two
Air Force aircraft were placed in service, however, the Agency had
them upgraded with J75/P- l 3A engines and various electronic de
vices, a process that took more than four months. 52
As overflights over the PRC increased, so did concern about the
growing number of Chinese surface-to-air missile sites. The Office of
Special Activities, therefore, got permission from the Defense
Department to equip Project TACKLE aircraft with System-XII
SAM-warning units. These devices alerted the pilot that his aircraft
was being tracked by the FAN SONG acquisition radar, part of the
SA-2's electronic targeting system. The System-XII units also re
corded each radar-tracking sequence. Analysis of these recordings re
vealed changes in the FAN SONG radar's characteristics, information
that proved useful in designing electronic-countermeasure (ECM) de
vices for US aircraft operating over Vietnam during the late l 960s.51
Despite the addition of System-XII in the spring of 1963, the
Nationalist Chinese-piloted U-2s of Project TACKLE had far fewer
ECM devices than other Agency U-2s. Project IDEALIST aircraft
possessed a complete suite of ECM gear in addition to the previously
mentioned System-XII unit. Among this ECM equipment was a de
vice that told the pilot that an SA-2 missile had been launched
(nicknamed the "Oscar-Sierra" unit, which was the acronym for the
expletive U-2 pilots used when they learned that an SA-2 missile was
on the way: "Oh, shit!") and a System-XIII unit that produced
false-angle returns to the homing radar aboard the approaching mis
sile in an effort to steer it away from the aircraft. The Defense
Department opposed installing such devices aboard Detachment H's
U-2s, for fear they could fall into Communist hands.
" OSA History, chap. 16, p. 10 (TS Codeword).
" Ibid., chap. 17, p. 50 (TS Codeword).
Sec,et

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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.