The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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130
Sec. et NOFetU~
Chapter 3
the aircraft, was a small-gauge wire with precisely spaced ferrite
beads. The wire and beads were supposed to capture incoming
70-MHz radar pulses and either trap them in the loop or weaken them
so much that they would not register as a valid radar return. This con­
figuration was called the trapeze and was not very successful.
A second approach, tested in early 1958, involved the use of
plastic material containing a printed circuit designed to absorb radar
pulses in the 65- to 85-MHz range. Nicknamed "wallpaper," this ma­
terial was glued to parts of the U-2's fuselage, nose, and tail.
Although the "trapeze" and "wallpaper" systems provided protection
against some Soviet radars, the systems proved ineffective against ra­
dars operating below 65-MHz or above 85-MHz. Furthermore, both
of these additions degraded the U-2's performance. The weight and
drag of "trapeze" reduced the aircraft's operating ceiling by 1,500
feet, and "wallpaper" sometimes caused engines to overheat. 74
SEI's research results were tested by another firm known as
Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier (EG&G), which was also composed
of MIT faculty members. Under an Air Force contract to evaluate ra­
dars, EG&G operated a small testing facility at Indian Springs,
Nevada, not far from Area 51. Although Kelly Johnson had been
closely involved with the radar deception project since its early days,
he cooperated reluctantly because he disliked adding attachments that
made his aircraft less airworthy. (Johnson's dislike of the antiradar at­
tachments was reflected in the unofficial nickname for aircraft that
had been so modified-"dirty birds.") After Lockheed mechanics
had mounted the various RAINBOW devices on the prototype U-2, a
Lockheed test pilot would fly the plane over EG&G's Indian Springs
installation. This was little more than a series of radar sets and a
trailer containing instrumentation. EG&G technicians could thus re­
cord and evaluate the U-2's radar returns as it traversed a specified
course over their facility. 75
This method of testing radar-deceptive modifications proved
both time consuming and dangerous. During a test flight on 2 April
1957, the "wallpaper" modification acted as insulation around the
" Records of the Scientific Engineering Institute (Project HTNAMABLE). OSA records
(TS Codeword).
" References to EG&G programs for the U-2 are contained in the later Convair contracts
for Projects FISH and KINGFISH. OSA records. job 67-B-415, box I (TS Codeword).
Seeret