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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 399 Original source ↗

“RAF”18 pages

  • p. 19 …staff was the RB-57D in I 955, whose maximum altitude RAF Canberra Mark-PR3 Seeret
  • p. 36 …In 1952 the Royal Air Force (RAF) began Project ROBIN, which was designed to modify the…
  • p. 106 …The U-2s were to use Lakenheath AFB, an RAF base also used by the USAF…
  • p. 107 …penetrated the British radar net work, causing RAF fighters to scramble. Afterward the Air Ministry made…
  • p. 122 …twin-engine Canberra bomber, similar to the RAF overflight of Kapustin Yar in 1953. The US…
  • p. 156 …Range for the first time since the RAF's overflight in 1953, obtaining photographs of a…
  • p. 166 …In November 1958, four RAF officers arrived at Detachment B at Adana. thus beginning the United…
  • p. 167 …ask Air Vice Marshal MacDonald if the RAF was prepared to '"" See, for ex:ample, the…
  • p. 168 …MacDonald agreed to Bissell's proposal and began recruiting RAF pilots to fly the U-2…
  • p. 169 …Most flights by the RAF pilots in Detachment B, however, took place in the Middle East…
  • p. 177 …For almost a year, the RAF pilots of Detachment B had been ready to fly over…
  • p. 194 …A four-man unit of RAF U-2 pilots was stationed at Detachment G, Edwards AFB…
  • p. 200 …approval authority for missions conducted by the RAF pilots in Detachment 8. The loss of Powers…
  • p. 316 …Project IDEALIST U-2 flying from an RAF facility in Great Britain. The OXCART would fly…
  • p. 332 …1960, the need for British participation lessened. RAF pilots henceforth flew only training or ferry missions…
  • p. 339 …P-E PFIAB PI PIC PID PSAC RAF RFP SAB SAC SAC SA/PC/DCI SAM…
  • p. 351 …4154 Powers Peshawar B B Tyuratam, Kyshtym, Sverdlovsk; downed by SAM a RAF pilot Sec1 et
  • p. 402 …Louis 29 Watertown Strip 57 Watton RAF Base. England 156 "weather plane" cover story 179 weather…
Sec.et N6f'OPIN
Index
386
Tyuratam, Soviet Union
135, 137-138, 160, 163-165, 167-168.
171- 172, 176
u
U - 1
66
U-2
accomplishments
316
assembly
45, 47, 66. 75. 164. 280, 284, 291
bailout experiments
64
bases
93
bicycle-type landing gear
47
blue-black color
149
brakes
69
canopy
80. 149. 177
cockpit
11. 63-64. 79, 125. 283. 292. 296
cost
34. 124. 149. 250-252. 263. 269. 273.
280. 285-286, 309, 322. 341-342
cover story
60. 85. 89-90, 94, 99, 132, 156, 178-180.
182, 207-208, 216,224,295
coverage
316
deadstick landing
79
deployment
2, 74. 76. 78. 88-89. 93-94. 134. 161.
165, 167, 247, 250. 255-257, 297.
301-302. 304. 307,3 13,3 17.332
design
47
destruction device
177
detachable pogos
47
ejection seat
64. 177, 302
emergency landing
78. 188. 222,313
film exploitation
115
flameout
71, 78-79, 131, 198. 229
flight plans
82. 177
flights approval process
187-188, 226. 30 I
foreign pilots
73-74, 32 1
fuel
5. 23. 47. 61-62. 68. 76. 133. 161. 175.
199. 218-219. 231. 235. 241 , 247-248.
271. 274. 277-278. 283-284. 286. 288.
302. 313. 340
fuel consumption
68. 219
fuel <>auae
68, z"19.~302
fuselage
10. 24. 47. 130,248.251, 270,277,286
inspection procedures
297
landing gear
10-12. IS. 47-48. 69. 89. 248
low-speed stall
76
maiden flight
66. 288
mission 1104
I 14
mission 1105
114
mission 1314
117
mission 2003
100
mission 2009
IO I
mission 2010
101
mission 2013
104-105
mission 2014
105
mission 2020
106
mission 2021
106
ioe,at

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About this file

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.