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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 287 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…
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 above. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.