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.

  • p. 18 …This search soon led him to a British twin-engine medium bomber the Canberra-built by…
  • p. 19 …staff was the RB-57D in I 955, whose maximum altitude RAF Canberra Mark-PR3 Seeret
  • p. 22 …al titude performance of the 8-57 Canberra. By January 1954 all three firms had submitted…
  • p. 36 …The RAF equipped the new Canberra PR7 with Rolls Royce Avon-109 engines and gave it…
  • p. 37 …discuss the modi fications for high-alti tude flight being made to the US Canberra, the…
  • p. 80 …production was needed to power spedally configured Canberra RB-57Ds for the Air Force. The first…
  • p. 122 …a reconnaissance version of the twin-engine Canberra bomber, similar to the RAF overflight of Kapustin…
  • p. 130 …et N6fOFU~ Chapter 3 .9f British Canberra bombers at Akrotiri, Cyprus: The Anglo-French military buildup…
  • p. 175 …2 and an Air Force RB-57D Canberra. The two air craft cruised along the Soviet…
  • p. 372 …333 Canberra 5. 9. 23-24. 67. 109. 117, 162 Cannon. Clarence 88 Capp, A l…
  • p. 401 …146 Inspector General 61 oxygen mask 62 RB-57D Canberra 162 Third Air Force 89 US…
356
iieeret NOFOAN
Index
Albania
140, 157
Albuquerque, New Mexico
74, 78-79
Allen, Edward L.
21
Almaza Airbase, Egypt
119
altimeters
59-60
altitude
I, 4-6, 7, 8-11, 12, 13-19, 22-26,
33-35, 39, 46-47, 49, 52, 54-55, 59,
61-64, 71-72, 74, 76, 79-80, 84, 87,
89. 93-94, 97, 101, 108, 125, 132,
142, 145, 148-149, 152, 156-157, 168,
175-179, 185,207, 217-219, 229. 235,
240-241, 246-247, 251, 254, 259-260,
262, 263, 267, 268, 273, 277, 278-279,
284,286,288,292,294, 296-297, 304,
312-313, 320, 330, 339, 340, 343
aluminum
271
Ambon Island
214
American Civil War
I
Amory, Robert
114
Anderson, Rudolph
210
Andaya, Norway
172
"Angel",
45, 50, 66,262
Anglo-French bombing campaign
117
Anglo-Soviet relations
94
Ankara, Turkey
135, 178
antiaircraft missile
168
antiaircraft weapons
93, 148
antiballistic missile system
298,303
antiradar studies
267,274
Apollo VII
254
Applied Physics Division
339
AQUATONE
40-43, 59. 62, 66, 74, 77, 82, 88,
93, 96, 100, 108, 113, 115,
122, 134, 155
AQUILA
341
AQUILINE
304, 339-343
Arabs
256
Aral Sea
135
Arbenz, Jacobo
16
"Archangel-I"
262
"Archangel-2"
262
Area 51,
56. 72. 74-75, 77-78, 130-131,
133. 274, 283-284, 286, 291.
303, 305. 341
Arizona
80
Arkansas
78
Armenia
124. 144. 146
arms limitation negotiations
147
arms race
318
Army Air Corps
21. 56
Army Air Force
50,328,330
article 121
286, 288
article 126
296
article 133
296
article 341
66. 71, 131-132
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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.