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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 269 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…
256
• • •
Secret NOFOAN
Chapter 5
U-2 ir;t- tlil!ht to its destination. The C-I41 carried support equipment
to theL ] In October I
[ es__· t_ ◊o__ _a_l_k_ ce _,_ 11 a __ f_d i_ io n__fe en lo _tc·a___t___r__ . _________,
No overseas deployment exercise was necessary in 1970, for ele
ments of Detachment G actually deployed overseas to provide photog
raphy of the Middle East. At the time. President Nixon's National
Security Adviser. Henry A. Kissinger, was mediating between the
Arabs and lsraelis in order to obtain a cease-fire along the Suez Canal.
where a virtual undeclared war was taking place . Once agreement was
reached in August, Kissinger promised both sides that the United
States would monitor the agreed upon 32-mile pullback from the wa
terway. Originally, Kissinger intended for photosatellites to do the
monitoring. One satellite was tasked to photograph the Suez Canal
area on 10 August, but the qual ity of its imagery lacked the detail
needed to discover such small targets as gun emplacements and jeeps.
In early A ugust , Kissinger asked the Air Force to provide U-2s
to overtly the Canal, but the A ir Force demurred, saying it would take
several weeks to move a U-2 detachment from Del Rio, Texas. to the
Middle East. At this point. DCI Helms told an NSC meeting that the
Agency's Detachment G at Edwards Air Force Base could deploy air-
craft to~-------------' and begin ti I ming the Suez
area with in the week. and it did. In fact. the first U-2 arrived in
r---Jonly 71 hours after receiv ing notification to deploy. Between
~st and 10 November 1970. Agency U-2s flew 29 missions over
the cease-fire zone as part of Project EVEN ST EVEN . Most flights
used the B camera. but 12 were equipped with the new, high-resolu
tion H camera. The EVEN STEVEN U-2s also employed a dozen
electron ic-intelligence-collection packages. from System-X to
System-XXIV. After 10 November 1970. Air Force SR-7 1s took over
the task of photographing the cease-fire zone.76
The M iddle East was again the cause of a Detachment G deploy
ment in October I 97~ wbea aoorbec Acab-l scaeli war bcol,e anr Two
U-2s d,eployed to the~----------------'~ n 7
and 8 October 1973. to be ready for possi ble coverage of the confl ict.
Detach rnent G received no such tasking. however. and the last of the
aircraft returned to California on 13 November. The 1973 war did
" Ibid.. pp. 5-6. 10- 11 tTS Co<.l.:word).
,. Ibid.. pp. 15-20 (TS Cod.:worJL
-Sec, cl--

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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.