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

Text

This text came with the file. It may have mistakes. When the text and the image disagree, the image is right.

236
6eeFet AJOl=OSN
Chapter 5
were normal when the pilot made this report. Project managers pre­
sumed that the U-2 was downed by a direct hit or near miss by an
SA-2 missile. 55
President Johnson ordered a standdown of overflights of the
PRC. This standdown was welcomed by the Nationalist Chinese
Government, which told the Taiwan Chief of Station that it wanted
··to let some time go by" before more overflights were scheduled.
The Nationalists pointed out that the only remaining qualified U-2 pi­
lot had "disqualified" himself because of nervous tension. No new
pilots could be qualified for U-2 flights before mid-August.
The Nationalists then demanded faster and higher flying aircraft
as well as better antimissile equipment for the planes. This request led
some CIA personnel to suspect that Nationalist China had learned
about Project OXCART, the successor to the U-2 that was still under­
going testing. Despite the Nationalists' request for better ECM equip­
ment, the Defense Department remained reluctant to authorize the use
of the System-XIII false-angle radar jammer on Project TACKLE
U-2s. The Defense Department feared that the loss of this device with
its highly advanced traveling-wave tube (TWT) would enable
Communist Bloc technicians to devise countermeasures and also
learn how to produce the highly efficient TWT themselves. As an in­
centive for the Nationalist Chinese to agree to more overflights. the
CIA agreed to permit them to process the U-2 film on Taiwan and to
use their own photointerpreters to exploit the film along with US
photointerpreters.
To counter the shortage of pilots in Detachment H, DCI McCone
suggested to the Special Group on 6 August 1964 that civilian CIA
pilots be used to fly missions over mainland China. The group agreed
that the matter should be taken up with President Johnson. On the fol­
lowing day, however, Presidential National Security Assistant
McGeorge Bundy informed McCone that, because Secretary of State
Rusk and Secretary of Defense McNamara opposed the idea. he
would not take it up with the President.5~
" OS,\ History. chap. 17, pp. 53-55 (TS Codeword): Mission folder Cl 74C (7 July I 964),
OSA records, job 66-8-664, box 7 (TS Codeword). Note: beginning in 1964 Nationalist
Chinese mission numbers began with "C" instead of "'GRC. ••
'' OSA History. chap. 17, pp. 58-59 (TS Codeword).
See,et