Documents / Official release
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.
“RAF”18 pages
• · 248 Sec.et NOFOAN Chapter 5 r-------..,•••••••-.-.-;- •-.: ·,, • • -· ..,.,- . _;~ ~ -;_ involved in seeking permission to bw;e U-::!s in other nations. Kelly U-2 on the USS Kitty Hawk, Johnson began working on changes to the aircraft. and Office of5 August 1963 Special Activities Deputy Director James A. Cunningham, Jr.. a for mer Marine Corps aviator. asked the Navy for assistance. The first test of the U-2's capability for carrie r operations took place in A ugust 1963 from the USS Kitty Hawk operating in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. Cal ifornia. A U-2C, which had been loaded aboard the carrier at North ls.land Naval Base. took off from the flight deck with a full load of fuel and was airborne within 32 1 feet. No assistance from catapults was necessary. A lthough the takeoff was very successful. the attempted landing was not. The air craft bounced, hit hard on one w ing tip. and then just barely managed to become airborne again before reaching the end of the deck. Kelly Johnson realized that the airframe would have to be al tered in order to make carrier landings possible. These alterations in volved strengthening the landing gear. installing an arresting hook at the rear of the fuse lage, and fining '"spoilers" on the wings to cancel the aerodynamic lift once the aircraft was over che tlighc deck. Aircraft thus modified were designat,ed U-2G. While several aircraft See.et
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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.