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.
“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…
274
Sec1 et NOFOAN
Chapter 6
to proceed with antiradar studies, aerodynamic structural tests, and en
gineering designs. This research and all later work on the A-12 took
place under a new codename. Project OXCART. established at the end
of August 1959 to replace its more widely known predecessor, Project
GUSTO.'" The CfA's project manager for OXCART was John
Parangosky, who had long been associated with the U-2 program.
EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE A-12'S
RADAR CROSS SECTION
During the spring of 1959, Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works crew
which then numbered only 50-had begun building a full-scale
mockup of the proposed aircraft. The mockup was to be tested for its
radar cross section by Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier (EG&G) in
cooperation with the Scientific Engineering Institute at a small testing
facility at Indian Springs. Nevada. Lockheed objected to this site be
cause its pylon would not support the full-scale mockup and because
the facilities were in full view of a nearby highway. On IO September
1959, EG&G agreed to move its radar test facility to the former U-2
testing site at Area 51 of the Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada
Proving Grounds. 11
When the new radar test facility with its larger pylon was ready.
Johnson put the A-12 mockup on a specially designed trailer truck
that carried it from Burbank to Area 5 I. By 18 November 1959, the
mockup was in place atop the pylon. and radar testing could begin.
These tests soon proved that Lockheed's concept of shape. fuel addi
tive, and nonmetallic parts was workable, but it would take more than
18 months of testing and adjustment before the OXCART achieved a
satisfactory radar cross section.
It was in the course of this radar testing that the OXCART
received its characteristic cobra-like appearance. Edward Purcell and
Franklin Rodgers had come up with a theory that a continuously
curving airframe would be difficult to track with a radar pulse be
cause it would present few corner reflectors or sharp angles from
which pulses could bounce in the direction of the radar. To achieve
the continuously curving airframe, Kelly Johnson added thin. curved
extensions to the engine housings and leading edges of the wings and
'"Parangosky interview (S): OSA History. chap. 20. pp. 19-21 (TS Codeword).
,· OSA History, chap. 20. p. 22 (TS Codeword).
-SesreL
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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.