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

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Secret NOFOAN
Chapter 5
U-2 ir;t- tlil!ht to its destination. The C-I41 carried support equipment
to theL
] In October I
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No overseas deployment exercise was necessary in 1970, for ele­
ments of Detachment G actually deployed overseas to provide photog­
raphy of the Middle East. At the time. President Nixon's National
Security Adviser. Henry A. Kissinger, was mediating between the
Arabs and lsraelis in order to obtain a cease-fire along the Suez Canal.
where a virtual undeclared war was taking place. Once agreement was
reached in August, Kissinger promised both sides that the United
States would monitor the agreed upon 32-mile pullback from the wa­
terway. Originally, Kissinger intended for photosatellites to do the
monitoring. One satellite was tasked to photograph the Suez Canal
area on 10 August, but the quality of its imagery lacked the detail
needed to discover such small targets as gun emplacements and jeeps.
In early August, Kissinger asked the Air Force to provide U-2s
to overtly the Canal, but the Air Force demurred, saying it would take
several weeks to move a U-2 detachment from Del Rio, Texas. to the
Middle East. At this point. DCI Helms told an NSC meeting that the
Agency's Detachment G at Edwards Air Force Base could deploy air­
craft to~-------------' and begin ti I ming the Suez
area within the week. and it did. In fact. the first U-2 arrived in
r---Jonly 71 hours after receiving notification to deploy. Between
~st and 10 November 1970. Agency U-2s flew 29 missions over
the cease-fire zone as part of Project EVEN STEVEN. Most flights
used the B camera. but 12 were equipped with the new, high-resolu­
tion H camera. The EVEN STEVEN U-2s also employed a dozen
electronic-intelligence-collection
packages.
from
System-X
to
System-XXIV. After 10 November 1970. Air Force SR-71s took over
the task of photographing the cease-fire zone.
76
The M iddle East was again the cause of a Detachment G deploy­
ment in October I97~ wbea aoorbec Acab-lscaeli war bcol,e anr Two
U-2s d,eployed to the~----------------'~n 7
and 8 October 1973. to be ready for possible coverage of the conflict.
Detach rnent G received no such tasking. however. and the last of the
aircraft returned to California on 13 November. The 1973 war did
" Ibid .. pp. 5-6. 10- 11 tTS Co<.l.:word).
,. Ibid.. pp. 15-20 (TS Cod.:worJL
-Sec, cl-­