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. 9 …The struggle between the CIA and the US Air Force to control the U-2 and…
  • p. 72 …2 missions. Access to the photographs taken by the U-2 would be strictly controlled, which…
  • p. 73 …This pact gave the Air Force responsibility for pilot selection and training, weather information, mission plotting…
  • p. 81 …Before the start of a mission, the ground crew set the counters to indicate the total…
  • p. 96 …All of the products from this project would be placed in the new control sys tem…
  • p. 100 …This was an S-band radar used by Soviet forces for early warning and ground-controlled…
  • p. 113 …The President nevertheless maintained tight control over the program and authorized only 10 days of overflights…
  • p. 128 …following day, when the next U-2 mission f m the Middle East. After quickly developing…
  • p. 140 …Welzenbach (S); Mission folder 4020 ( 18 March 1957), OSA records, job 67-B-972, box 7…
  • p. 142 …where they would not interfere with the control surfaces. At the ends of these poles, completely…
  • p. 147 …To take ad vantage of these weaknesses, Detachment C staged three missions from Alaska into the…
  • p. 156 …After these missions, penetrat ion overflights became a rarity. There would be only six more during…
  • p. 167 …U-2 missions. To handle U-2 material, the British created a new control system, which…
  • p. 168 …The British missions would be operationally controlled by CIA project headquarters. Soon afterward four British pilots…
  • p. 169 …where the United Kingdom carried out 27 missions during the two years its pi lots took…
  • p. 170 157 Sec, et MOF'ORI\I Chapter 3 May 1959, and used to fly weather missions…
  • p. 180 …The excellent photography from tnis mission did not reveal a single missile site, but analysts diid…
  • p. 188 …some Soviet airborne-missile fire-control systems. Operation GRAND SLAM, mission 4154 and the 24th deep…
  • p. 191 …key project personnel assembled in the Agency control center that morning (with the exception of Bissell…
  • p. 196 …in cor respondence with Abel's "wife., (probably his Soviet control) in East Germany. In November…
  • p. 204 …in .the DDP in order to maintain control of his overhead reconnais sance projects (the U…
  • p. 220 …Strongly favoring Air Force control of the U-2 missions over Cuba. the DOD representatives called…
  • p. 237 …In reality, however, the United States would maintain strict control over the missions to be flown…
  • p. 335 …The flood of information that the U-2 missions gathered led to a major expansion of…
  • p. 340 …In 1959 Bissell became Deputy Director for Plans but kept the reconnaissance projects under his control…
  • p. 348 …System-I used S- and X-band ELINT receivers to collect ground-controlled intercept and air…
  • p. 400 387 Sec1 et NOFORN mission 2023 108 mission 2029 124 mission 3086 200 mission 3088 200…
367
high-altitude balloon program
22
high-altitude photography
I, 55, 84
high-altitude photoreconnaissance
7
high-altitude reconnaissance
I, 4-5, 8-9, 13-14, 17, 19, 22-25,
33-34, 39, 49, 52, 55, 254, 262,
292, 312, 330
high-altitude weather plane
178
high-impact plastics
313
high-resolution cameras
4
high-resolution infrared scanner
238
high-speed buffet
76
high-speed reconnaissance aircraft
262-263, 270
HIGH WIRE
164
Hitsman, Roger
209
Hitchcock, Alfred
29
Hokkaido, Japan
4
Holcomb. William
285
Hollywood, California
29
Hong Kong
217
Hoover, Herbert, Jr.
123-124
horizontal stabilizers
47
Horner, Richard
70
Hornig, Donald F.
309
HOT SHOP
162
Houston, Lawrence R.
44
HR-333 camera
253
HRB-Singer Corporation
336
HTAUTOMAT
83,115,331
HTNAMABLE
l l0-111
human intelligence sources
2
Hungarian uprising
123
Hungary
101, 123
Hurricane Baseline Survey
254
Hycon Manufacturing Company
13, 50. 252
hydraulic fluid
279
hydraulic pump
279
hydrogen bomb
19-20, 242
hydrogen weapons
164
hydrogen-powered aircraft
263
hydrologists
254
I
IBM CPC (card-programmed calculator)
52
IDEALIST
182. 210. 234, 303
IDEALIST U-2
303
lgarka, Soviet Union
3
ileitis
96
imagery
116, 179. 252-253, 255-256, 282,
298. 303,310
impeller
291
"in-and-out" operations
205
in-flight refueling
198-200, 237, 302
Sec, et NOFORN
Index
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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.