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

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Seu et NOFOAN
Chapter 5
There was never another Agency U-2 mission from an aircraft
carrier. Although the idea of using a floating airbase to avoid political
sensitivity proved feasible, the cost did not. Aircraft carriers are enor­
mously expensive to operate and require an entire flotilla of vessels to
protect and service them. The movement of large numbers of big
ships is difficult to conceal and cannot be hastily accomplished, while
the deployment of a solitary U-2 to a remote airfield can take place
overnight.
A New Version of the U-2
By the summer of 1966, the number of flyable Agency U-2s had
dwindled to six-two at Detachment H in Taiwan and four at
Detachment G in California-with three more at Lockheed undergo­
ing repair. The Agency had originally ordered 20 U-2s in 1954-55
(the Air Force had purchased another 31 of these planes), and Kelly
Johnson's crew at the Skunk Works had managed to assemble four
additional craft for the Agency from leftover spare parts and usable
sections of crashed aircraft. This brought the total number of U-2s ac­
quired by the Agency to 24, for an average cost of $812.500 each.
At this point, the DCI and the Secretary of Defense on I August
1966 decided to place an order with Lockheed for eight more aircraft
to be used in the Agency and Air Force U-2 programs-a completely
new version of the aircraft. Kelly Johnson had been working on ways
to improve the performance of the U-2 since early I 965 because he
was concerned that all the modifications and additions to the aircraft
over the years had made it so heavy that it had lost almost half of its
range and several thousand feet in cruising altitude.11 The new model,
known as the U-2R, had a longer fuselage and a wider wingspan than
the original U-2. The U-2R's wings were 103 feet long with 1,000
square feet of lifting surface, in contrast to the U-2C's 80-foot wings
with only 600 square feet. The longer fuselage of the U-2R made it
possible to provide two pressurized bays with an additional 2.2 cubic
meters of equipment space and also achieve a better weight distribu­
tion. The net result of all these improvements was a much better per­
forming aircraft. No longer did the U-2 pilot have to worry about
keeping the aircraft's speed at altitude within a 6-knot window in the
stall/buffet corner of the flight envelope. The envelope was now ex­
tended to 20 knots, which greatly improved flyability.
" Johnson, "Log for Projc::ct X," 2 F.:bruary 1965. June: to Octobc::r 1965. 20 Octobc::r
1965: Johnson, "U-2R Log," January to August 1966.
SeoFet