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…
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42
Sec.ct NOFOAN
Chapter 2
The Matomic Building
total of 357 personnel divided among project headquarters, a US test
ing faci lity. and three foreign field bases. C IA employees represented
only one-fourth (92) of .the total. The Air Force personnel commit
ment was larger, with l09 positions on the 1955 table of organization
(th is total does not include many other Air Force personnel, such as
SAC meteorologists. who supported the U-2 project in addition to
their other duties). The largest Project AQUATONE category was
contract employees, with 156 positions in 1955. This category in
cluded maintenance and support personnel from Lockheed (five per
aircraft), the pilots, and support personnel from other contractors for
items such as photographic equipment.6
The first project headquarters was in CIA's Administration (East)
Building at 2430 E Street, NW. Continued growth caused the
AQUATONE staff to move several times during its first two years.
On l May l 955, the project staff moved to the third floor of a small
red brick building (the Briggs School) at 2210 E Street, NW. Then on
3 October. the staff moved to Wings A and C of Quarters Eye, a
World War fI "temporary" building on Ohio Drive. NW. in the West
Potomac Park area of Washington . On 25 February l956, the project
staff moved again. this time to the fifth floor of the Matomic Building
• Proj,:ct AQUATONE Table of Organization. 28 April 1955 in OSA History. chap. 3, an
neK 15 (TS Codeword).
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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.