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…
Secret i<JOFOHl'iJ
Chapter 6
278
to achieve the desired target altitude of 91,000 feet. Afterward. he
noted in the project log: ··we have no performance margins left; so
this project. instead of being 10 times as hard as anything we have
done, is 12 times as hard. This matches the design number and is ob
viously right." ,,,
These changes satisfied Bissell, who notified Johnson on 26
January that the CIA was authorizing the construction of 12 of the
new aircraft. The actual contract was signed on 11 February l 960.
Lockheed's original quotation for the project was $96.6 million for l 2
aircraft, but technological difficulties eventually made this price im
possible to meet. Recognizing that fabricating an aircraft from tita
nium might involve unforeseen difficulties, the CIA included a clause
in the contract that allowed costs to be reevaluated. During the next
five years. this clause had to be invoked on a number of occasions as
the A-12's costs soared to more than double the original estimate."'
NEW TECHNOLOGIES NECESSITATED
BY OXCART'S HIGH SPEED
According to the specifications. the OXCART aircraft was to achieve
a speed of Mach 3.2 (2.064 knots or 0.57 miles per second. which
would make it as fast as a rifle bullet). have a range of 4.120 nautical
miles. and reach altitudes of 84.500 to 97,600 feet. The new aircraft
would thus be more than five times as fast as the U-2 and would go
almost 3 miles higher.
One major disadvantage of the OXCART's great speed was high
temperatures. Flying through the earth's atmosphere at Mach 3.2
heated portions of the aircraft's skin to almost 900°F. An aircraft op
erating at these high speeds and high temperatures required fuels. lu
bricants, and hydraulic fluids that had not yet been invented. The
OXCART's fuel requirement called for a low-vapor-pressure fuel
with a low volume at operating temperatures; the fuel would also be
used as a heat sink to cool various parts of the aircraft. The 158 en
gines required lubricants that did not break down at the very high op
erating temperatures of Mach 3.2 speeds. This requirement led to the
,., Johnson... Archangc I log," 2 I January I960.
'" OSA Hiswry. chap. 20. pp. 27-29. 33-34, 36 (TS Colkword).
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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.