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CIA-UAP-003-THE_CENTRAL_INTELLIGENCE_AGENCY_AND_OVERHEAD_RECONNAISSANCE-THE_U-2_AND_OXCART_PROGRAMS_1954-1974.pdf

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Approved for Release 2021

Secret NOFORN

![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg)

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# The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance:

The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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# The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance:

The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

Gregory W. Pedlow
and
Donald E. Welzenbach

![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg)

History Staff
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C.

1992

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![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg)

## ♦ Chapter 1
Searching for a System

- The Need for High-Altitude Reconnaissance... 1
- Early Postwar Aerial Reconnaissance... 2
- New Approaches to Photoreconnaissance... 4
- The Air Force Search for a New Reconnaissance Aircraft... 8
- Lockheed CL-282 Supporters and the CIA... 13
- Scientists and Overhead Reconnaissance... 17
- The BEACON HILL Report... 17
- Concern About the Danger of a Soviet Surprise Attack... 19
- The Air Force Intelligence Systems Panel... 21
- British Overflight of Kapustin Yar... 23
- The Intelligence Systems Panel and the CL-282... 24
- T
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Hiring U-2 Pilots ... 73
Pilot Training ... 75
Final Tests of the U-2 ... 76
Three Fatal Crashes in 1956 ... 79
Coordination of Collection Requirements ... 80
Preparations To Handle the Product of U-2 Missions ... 82
The Impact of the Air Force Project GENETRIX Balloons ... 84
AQUATONE Briefings for Selected Members of Congress ... 88
The U-2 Cover Story ... 89

♦ Chapter 3
U-2 Operations in the Soviet Bloc and Middle East, 1956-1958

The Deployment of Detachment A to Lakenheath ... 94
The Move to Wiesbaden ... 95
President Eisenhower's Attitude Toward Overflights ... 96
First O
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## Chapter 5
### U-2 Operations After May 1960

- U-2 Operations in Latin America ... 197
- U-2 Support to the Bay of Pigs Invasion ... 197
- Aerial Refueling Capability for the U-2 ... 198
- U-2 Coverage During the Cuban Missile Crisis ... 199
- U-2s Over South America ... 211
- U-2 Operations in Asia ... 211
- Detachment C and the Indonesian Revolt of 1958 ... 211
- China Offshore Islands Dispute of 1958 ... 215
- U-2 Support for DDP Operations in Tibet ... 216
- U-2Cs for Detachment C ... 217
- U-2 Crash in Thailand ... 219
- End of Detachment C Operations ... 219
- Detachmen
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New Technologies Necessitated By OXCART's High Speed 279
Designing the OXCART's Cameras 281
Choosing Pilots for OXCART 283
Selection of a Testing Site for the OXCART 283
Delivery of the First OXCART 286
Changes in the Project Management 286
OXCART's First Flights 288
Speed-Related Problems 290
New Versions of the OXCART 291
The Question of Surfacing a Version of the OXCART 292
Additional Problems During Final Testing 295
Discussions on the OXCART's Future Employment 297
First A-12 Deployment: Operation BLACK SHIELD 304
The End of the OXCART Program 307
Possible Successors to the
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# Warning Notice

Intelligence Sources or Methods Involved (WNINTEL)

# National Security Information

Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions

## Dissemination Control Abbreviations

|  NOFORN (NF) | Not releasable to foreign nationals  |
| --- | --- |
|  NOCONTRACT (NC) | Not releasable to contractors or contractor/consultants  |
|  PROPIN (PR) | Caution—proprietary information involved  |
|  ORCON (OC) | Dissemination and extraction of information controlled by originator  |
|  REL... | This information has been authorized for release to...  |
|  WN | WNINTEL—Intelligence sour

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