Documents / Official release

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 266 Original source ↗

“Nevers”34 pages

  • p. 13 …Without their help a good deal of this story could never have become known. The assistance…
  • p. 44 …the CL-282; in fact, there may never have been a formal decision as such. In…
  • p. 74 …Ry, Lockheed engineers had to solve problems never before encountered. Among these problems w21s the need…
  • p. 84 …Flight tests continued, with the U-2 ascending to alti tudes never before attained in sustained…
  • p. 102 …put aside for further thought (which it never received), and Bissell 's weather research cover re…
  • p. 147 …Peninsula, because of bad weather and, therefore, never entered Soviet airspace. A second attempt to photograph…
  • p. 157 …2 flight over the Black Sea that never violated Soviet airspace revealed 12 attempts at interception…
  • p. 159 …Six of the men on board were killed and the remaining 11 were never heard from…
  • p. 160 …Although this new Berlin crisis never became as threat,ening as the blockade of l 948…
  • p. 165 …The Air Force never equipped its orig inal U-2s with the 175 engines. 10" Detachment…
  • p. 189 …Powers never made it past Sverdlovsk. Four and a half hours into the mission, an SA…
  • p. 194 …program in I 974, but RAF pilots never again conducted an overt1ight in an Agency U…
  • p. 208 …very good reason, and such a situation never developed, in part because satellite photography gradually began…
  • p. 210 …Since this never happened, Francis Gary Powers' flight on l May 1960 proved to be the…
  • p. 223 …Responsibility for photo graphic coverage of Cuba remained with the Air Force; Agency pil,ots never…
  • p. 227 …Both were expe rienced with World War II aircraft, although Vito had never flown the rebels…
  • p. 248 …It was short of both pilots and planes and never had more than three U-2s…
  • p. 257 …This was an electronic intelligence mission that, in ac cordance with the new guidelines, never came…
  • p. 264 251 Seu et NOFOAN Chapter 5 There was never another Agency U-2 mission from an…
  • p. 290 …the OXCART aircraft for its own use. never adopted the laminated vertical stabii izers." THE OXCART…
  • p. 294 …Scott employed concepts never be fore used in camera systems. These included the use of a…
  • p. 298 …As it turned out, the 158 was never used in a Navy aircraft. "OSA History. chap…
  • p. 299 …This new delay was caused by leaking fuel tanks, a problem that would never be solved…
  • p. 303 …the J58 had to reach performance levels never before achieved by a jet engine. while operating…
  • p. 313 …even though the SKYLARK contingency plan was never put into effect. Since U-2s continued to…
  • p. 316 …Moreover, the Soviets never operated the radars in the tracking and lockon modes, a fact that…
  • p. 317 …strongly opposed it and the 303 Committee never forwarded the proposal to President Johnson. 5" The…
  • p. 318 …The OXCART, which had never operated in heavy rain, taxied to the runway and took off…
  • p. 326 …collector of strategic intelligence, the OXCART was never used for this purpose. Its brief deployment was…
  • p. 328 …the President never went so far as to eliminate the overflight program. As Commander in Chielf…
  • p. 333 …its speed and altitude have never been equaled. The development of this aircraft also led to…
  • p. 348 …a 16-kilogram VHF recorder for communications intelligence (COMINT), was never used and was transferred to…
  • p. 349 …a mission over the Soviet Union that never took place. Systems-XI through XV were ECM…
  • p. 356 …Project SANDY HOOK never advanced very far in develop ment; projected high costs and substantial technical…
253
See, et rdOFORN
Chapter 5
the scale of imagery needed to obtain the highly technical data de
sired by analysts. As a result, the Office of Special Activities asked
the Hycon Manufacturing Company of Pasadena, California, to adapt
its successful high-resolution 48-inch 9- by 9-inch format camera de
veloped for the OXCART aircraft for use in the U-2R. This camera
was actually a very advanced version of the original B camera with a
new lens designed by James Baker. The new camera was designed to
resolve objects smaller than 4 inches.
Hycon began work on the HR-333 camera in 1966. Unlike the
OXCART camera, the new unit was to use the split 18- by 18-inch
format of the B camera, so the lens had to be redesigned. James
Baker's contribution to this effort was a 48-inch f/5.6 system that pro
vided remarkably sharp imagery. Hycon completed the camera in
time for it to be installed in the first U-2Rs delivered to the Agency in
1968; it is known as the H camera.71
Replacement of the Original U-2s With U-2Rs
As the new U-2Rs began coming off the production line at Lockheed
_in-the autumn of 1968, CIA and the_ Department of Defense had to
decide who would get the new aircraft. At a meeting on 13
November, DCI Richard Helms and Secretary of Defense Robert
McNamara agreed that the Air Force and the Agency would each get
six U-2Rs. The six older U-2s remaining from the original 1954-55
production were to be kept in flyable condition and be used as re
placements if newer models were lost.
Despite the greatly increased capabilities of the new model of
the U-2, the era of overflights of hostile territory was over. The U-2R
would have six years of useful service with the Agency, but its mis
sions did not include penetration flights over hostile territory.
THE FINAL YEARS OF THE U-2
When the OXCART's brief operational career with the Agency ended
in 1968, the U-2 was once again the center of the Agency's manned
reconnaissance program. But by this time, reconnaissance aircraft had
declined in importance as collection systems. Overflights were a thing
of the past. Although Project TACKLE U-2s with Nationalist Chinese
" "OSA History-2," chap. 5. pp. 10-l2.
~eeret

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

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.