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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 315 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…
Secret fdOFORN
Chapter 6
302
sufficient support. The JCS and the PFIAB supported the CIA's advo
cacy of OXCART deployment. Top State and Defense Department of
ficials, however, thought that the political risks of basing the aircraft
in Okinawa-which would almost certainly disclose it to the
Japanese-outweighed any gains from the intelligence the OXCART
might gather. On 12 August I 966, the divergent views were presented
to President Johnson, who upheld the 303 Committee's majority opin
ion against deployment for the time being.5'
The CIA then proposed an OXCART overflight of Cuba in order
to test the aircraft's ECM systems in a hostile environment. On 15
September the 303 Committee considered and rejected this idea on
the grounds that sending OXCART over Cuba "would disturb the ex
isting calm prevailing in that area of our foreign affairs." 57
With operational missions still ruled out, proficiency training re
mained the main order of business. This led to improvements in mis
sion plans and flight tactics that enabled the detachment to reduce the
time requi~ed to deploy to Okinawa from 21 days to 15. Records con
tinued to fall to the OXCART. On 21 December 1966, a Lockheed
test pilot tlew an A-12 for 16,408 kilometers over the continental
United States in slightly more than six hours, for an average speed of
2,670 kilometers per hour (which included in-flight refueling at
speeds as low as 970 kilometers per hour). This flight set a record for
speed and distance unapproachable by any other aircraft. 58
Two weeks later, on 5 January 1967, an A-12 crashed after a fuel
gauge malfunctioned and the aircraft ran out of fuel short of the run
way. Pilot Walter Ray ejected but was killed when he could not
become separated from the ejection seat. To preserve the secrecy of
the OXCART program, the Air Force informed the press that an
SR-71 was missing and presumed down in Nevada. This loss, like the
three preceding crashes, did not result from difficulties caused by
high-speed, high-temperature flight but from traditional problems in
herent in any new aircraft.
Proposals for OXCART operations continued to surface, and in
May 1967 the CIA forwarded a detailed request to the 303 Committee
to use the OXCART to collect strategic intelligence about a new
'• Minnich ...OXCART Story:· p. 23 (S): OSA History. chap. 20. pp. 110-111 (TS
Codeword).
"OSA History, chap. 20. p. 112 (TS Codeword).
"Minnich. "OXCART Story:· p. 24 (S).
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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.